Coca-Cola has pursued product diversification through major acquisitions in recent years, spanning coffee, juice, and dairy markets. How to integrate these acquired businesses into the company's organizational structure? Coca-Cola's answer is to create a new division. Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey announced the new division, Global Ventures, during the latest quarterly earnings call, which will help accelerate the transformation and global expansion of beverage brands that Coca-Cola has invested in or acquired. In this new division, Coca-Cola will include its acquired coffee chain Costa and its partnership with functional beverage brand Monster Beverages. The new division may also house brands that Coca-Cola has invested in or acquired over the past few years, including its minority stake in sports drink brand BodyArmor, Nigerian juice and dairy company Chi, and tea brand Fuze. Global Ventures will be led by Jennifer Mann, Senior Vice President, Chief People Officer, and Chief of Staff to the CEO. It is not yet clear where Global Ventures will sit within Coca-Cola's organizational structure. Quincey explained the rationale for creating the new division. During the earnings call, he said, "Global Ventures was established because the company's transformation has not progressed as quickly as expected. We hope to accelerate transformation through Global Ventures, unify the mobilization of brands acquired in different markets, and also help simplify the processes for marketing, innovation, and M&A for new brands acquired or invested in across global markets." For example, regarding Costa, Quincey reiterated its positioning as a global coffee platform and mentioned the potential launch of ready-to-drink coffee and capsule coffee products. However, it remains unclear whether there will be adjustments to Costa's store expansion plans (e.g., in China). Quincey previously mentioned that the company would continue its store opening plans in Asian markets. At the same time, Global Ventures also plays a role in identifying new market opportunities and driving acquisitions. Quincey said: "The group will also work with global colleagues to discover and nurture the next wave of fast-growing opportunities." The position of Global Ventures within Coca-Cola's organizational structure has not been disclosed, and it is unclear how effective this new division will be in improving efficiency. Jennifer Mann, the head of the division, has limited experience in specific business operations, having served as General Manager of Coca-Cola's Freestyle vending machine product from 2012 to 2015. Coca-Cola launched the Freestyle vending machine in 2009, which dispenses beverages from various brands under the company's umbrella through nozzles, primarily targeting restaurants. This has become a major channel for Coca-Cola to sell beverages and also helps the company collect data on consumer preferences. In 2014, Coca-Cola had installed 20,000 Freestyle machines in the United States. In 2016, Pepsi also launched a similar product, Pepsi Spire. Coca-Cola Freestyle | Image source: Coca-Cola In addition to the new division, Coca-Cola also announced a series of executive appointments. Starting January 2019, Brian Smith will assume the role of Chairman and Chief Operating Officer; CFO Kathy Waller will retire on March 15, 2019, and John Murphy will succeed her as CFO. This is a relatively large-scale adjustment for Coca-Cola since 2017. In March 2017, Coca-Cola announced that James Quincey would succeed as CEO. At the same time, global R&D was upgraded to an independent innovation division, reporting directly to the CEO along with the IT department. As for Coca-Cola's third-quarter earnings this year, they are not much different from the previous quarter. In the quarter, Coca-Cola's sales declined 9% to $8.245 billion due to the divestiture of bottling plants. Excluding the impact of divestitures, organic sales rose 6%. Net income increased 30% to $1.88 billion. Driven by sales growth of Coca-Cola classic, low-calorie, and zero-calorie Sprite and Fanta, global sparkling beverage volume increased 2%. The Chinese market achieved "steady growth," with the repositioned packaging of Ice Dew selling well. Source: Curiosity Daily -END-