For years, both Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) talked about the same shift: Consumers were pulling back from sugar and reaching for lighter, healthier drinks.
Seeing a trend and getting ahead of it are two very different things, though
And the latest quarter makes clear that only one of these giants actually did the hard work early. And it’s not close. Coca-Cola got out in front The proof is in Coke’s second-quarter results, and it runs right through its zero-sugar lineup.
Coca-Cola Zero Sugar grew 16% globally, and not in one lucky region but across every geographic segment. Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Light added another 7%, led by North America and Asia. This is not a fluke.