Why The Coca-Cola Co (KO) Needs A Chief Technology Officer?

The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) sales is going down every year mainly due to the shift in consumer behavior. Many consider Coca-Cola’s beverages as unhealthy with artificial sweeteners in them. Only way the company can bump up the sales numbers again is by coming up with new beverages. So there is definitely a possibility of new technology and innovation. The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO)’s Chief Technology Officer, Guy Wollaert talked on Bloomberg TV with Bloomberg’s Caroline Hyde about The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO)’s technology and innovation at The Dublin Web Summit in Ireland.

Hyde questioned how can one relate The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) and technology and why do they need a CTO, since the company deals with beverages.

“The Coca-Cola Company has always been a company about innovation. I know it’s a disruptive innovation. Let’s face it, this category by itself is a very disruptive category in the drinks and beverage business and so we continue to build on that heritage,” Wollaert said.

He added that these days, technology points to digital technology, but the physical technology is also very important. He feels that any changes or improvements in physical technology might directly/indirectly impact day to day lives of many people.

For a company like The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) consumer has to be engaged with them for profits. Even a minor concern in the minds of consumers might hurt the company’s sales numbers. Wollaert thinks that consumers are more concerned these days about their health, well-being and calories they consume every day.

Wollaert said that there is the smartwear technology which monitors the health of consumer every day. It tracks the amount of calories that the consumer burned and took in through food and beverages. He feels that it is a great opportunity for a company like The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) to have a partnership with such smartwear companies.

Wollaert mentioned that The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) has been participating in a lot of innovations for a long time now, but in the recent past they have devised a framework, which tries to find the people with great ideas, find companies which are not even a startup or early startup and help them with resources to materialize the ideas into products. He thinks that the framework that the company has built now helps in new innovations.

Here’s a list of top 7 expensive sodas in the world. See where Coca-Cola stands.

Disclosure: None

Free Report: Warren Buffett and 12 Billionaires Are Crazy About These 7 Stocks

Let Warren Buffett, David Einhorn, George Soros, and David Tepper WORK FOR YOU. If you want to beat the low cost index funds by an average of 6 percentage points per year look no further than Warren Buffett’s stock picks. That’s the margin Buffett’s stock picks outperformed the market since 2008. In this free report, Insider Monkey’s market beating research team identified 7 stocks Warren Buffett and 12 other billionaires are crazy about. CLICK HERE NOW for all the details.