The Supply Chain of Coca Cola USA

Running head: THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF COCA COLA USA
The supply chain of Coca Cola USA
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1THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF COCA COLA USA
Coca Cola one of the leading manufacturers, suppliers and distributors of non-
alcoholic beverages and syrups is a global trade operating even in the remotest place. The far-
reaching capability of such a business especially in the vast terrains of USA is only possible
due to a strong and competent supply chain network (Wisner, Tan and Leong 2014).
The main supply chain components have been shown in a diagram:
Upstream Downstream
Source: Created by the author
Raw
material
suppliers
Western
Container
Corporation
The
NutraSweet
Company and
Ajinomoto
Co.
Tate & Lyle
Nutrinova
Nutrition
Specialties &
Food
Ingredients
GmbH
Coca Cola
Distribution
centres in USA Consumers
Wholesalers
Retailers/
Supermarket
Restaurants/
Cafe
Petrol
Stations
Vending
Machine
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3

2THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF COCA COLA USA
Upstream Tier 1:
Water being the primary raw material used, the company has always focused on
judicious and sustainable usage of water in USA .Though there were no major shortage of
water resources till date, there were few instances where limited water supply led to certain
difficulties. Apart from water, the most important raw materials required are nutritive and
non-nutritive sweeteners.
Upstream Tier 2:
These four companies are the key suppliers of Coca Cola in USA. The major
requirement of plastic bottles is provided by manufactures, which are jointly owned by the
company as well as Coca Cola bottlers. The company is a major stakeholder of Western
Container Corporation, which is a key producer of plastic bottles. In USA, the primary
nutritive sweetener used is High Fructose Corn Syrup (HCFS), which is obtained in
abundance from domestic sources. The company purchases HCFS with the assistance of
Coca-Cola Bottlers' Sales and Services Company LLC whose owner is Coca Cola Bottlers
(Stadtler 2015).
The company purchases non-nutritive sweetener aspartame that is required in sparkling
beverages from The NutraSweet Company and Ajinomoto Co. Raw material saccharin or
acesulfame potassium is bought from Nutrinova Nutrition Specialties and Food
Ingredients GmbH. Sucralose, a non-nutritive sweetener is bought from a single and reliable
source Tate & Lyle.
Downstream Tier 1:
The Company has tied up with around 70 bottlers who take the charge of distributing
above 700 products across the country (Company et al. 2018). These bottlers companies even