Coke Check

Disclosure: I currently hold $KO in my portfolio.

I've been holding Coke I'm my portfolio for a while now. I got into it because it has a moat, it may not be as attractive as $PEP, but I have no regrets so far. A brand I can count on, and a dividend that I appreciate. Here's what Coke had been up to:

Coca-Cola is shutting down the juice and smoothie brand Odwalla (at the end of July), TaB diet soda, ZICO coconut water, Coca-Cola Life and Diet Coke Feisty Cherry, Neck Ginger Ale and Delaware Punch.

$KO Nigeria says it has made a donation of N20 million to cover the medical costs of victims of the #EndSARS protests in hospitals.

$KO launches the alcoholic version of its Topo Chico sparkling water along with beer giant Molson Coors Beverage Co in the U.S. It will be the beverage giant's first alcoholic drink in the country.

CA will make it mandatory for plastic bottles to contain 50% recycled content by 2030. Coke already has an average of 20% rPET in bottles sold in CA. And have a goal of making 50% of bottles & cans from recycled material in 2030.

$KO has launched a service to deliver its products to consumers’ homes with an online portal dubbed DialACoke after posting reduced sales in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The service will initially target the larger towns including Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa, Eldoret, and Kisumu before further expansion.

$KO had compensated distributors over Sh32 million for expired soft drinks across the country as dead stock lay idle at depots.

$KO introduced on Wednesday, an option for its employees to work from home permanently even post-pandemic, if their physical presence is not required in the office, according to a new policy. the company is dispatching ergonomic chairs from the office to eligible employees’ homes, on their request, while the ones working in different cities are given the option to purchase such chairs. The company will also provide financial aid for installing power back-up options like UPS and bear expenses for monthly wifi subscriptions, in order to facilitate smooth workflow.

$KO "voluntary separation program" includes some major incentives, including at least a year's pay plus a 20% bump. Totaling 4,000 people, to reduce the number of layoffs it says will take place as it streamlines operations. The initial round of offers will go to people working in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico with the most-recent hire date of on or before Sept. 1, 2017. Expenses related to the severance programs are expected to be between about $350 million to $550 million.

As part of Coke’s Together We Must commitment, $KO is partnering with the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Civic Dinners and Equitable Dinners to host Together We Must: The Conversation. Each of the six virtual dinners will be hosted by different celebrity & influential guest speakers, and highlight conversations on social justice to encourage people across the country, "to listen, connect and take action together."