A：Coca-Cola's key performance indicators for the strong first quarter results include volume growth across all segments, expanding market share, organic revenue growth on track with full-year guidance, and double-digit comparable earnings per share growth.

A：Coca-Cola is focusing on becoming more consumer-centric, maintaining constructive skepticism, and leveraging digital capabilities to create enduring value.

A：The global economic and political environment presented a complex external situation where many consumers remained resilient, yet others faced pressure due to persistent inflation, greater macroeconomic uncertainty, and volatility caused by the conflict in the Middle East.

A：Notable brand highlights include the strong performance of Coca-Cola, Fanta, Trademark,Sprite, and other brands. Geographically, growth was seen across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific despite varying market conditions.

A：Marketing and promotional activities that contributed to Coca-Cola's growth include activations tied to major events like the FIFA World Cup, partnerships across various industries, and campaigns that linked brands to key drinking occasions and consumer special points.

A：Coca-Cola is leveraging data and digital capabilities to become more precise in serving consumers and customers, as part of their strategy to enhance their consumer and customer-centric approach.

A：Examples of consumer-centric innovations include the launch of 'For Cola 0.0' in Europe, a campaign that includes partnerships across multiple industries, and the scaling and launching of products tailored to local needs, such as the launch of Sprite with prebiotics in China.

A：The company employs a 'Fu Made of Fusion' campaign to scale the brand globally while delivering intimacy with a highly localized product portfolio tailored to specific taste profiles, tea types, and sugar-free options.

A：The company's system added more than 600,000 outlets in the past year, which helped increase outlet coverage and drive basket incidence. This, coupled with strong activation during Ramadan, accelerated growth in Turkey, and increased the share of visible inventory and the sales point of interruption by double digits.

A：The company believes that it operates in a great and resilient industry, has a powerful portfolio with $32 billion brands, and has a pervasive yet local system that provides a clear advantage.

A：During the quarter, the company managed market dynamics locally to deliver on global objectives by growing organic revenues and maintaining concentrate sales. It experienced 3% script unit case growth, with price mix growth of 2%, and an increase in comparable operating margin, while controlling free cash flow and the balance sheet.

A：The company expects organic revenue growth of script to script, with a projected comparable currency-neutral earnings per share growth of 7%. It anticipates commodity price volatility but manages it closely. The company now expects an approximate 1 to 2 point currency tailwind to comparable net revenues, with a 3 point currency tailwind to comparable earnings per share for full year 2026. The underlying effective tax rate for 2026 is now expected to be 19.9%, leading to a comparable earnings per share growth of 8% to 9% versus 2025.

A：Interpreting the company's financial performance for 2026 should account for the impact of a calendar shift with the fourth quarter having six fewer days than 2025's fourth quarter. The company also anticipates a shift in Easter into the first quarter, which provided a half a point benefit to first-quarter volume. Additionally, concentrate shipments are expected to decrease by a few points in the second quarter. Assuming the sale of CCB, Africa, these factors will influence the company's financial results and performance.

A：The anticipated impact of Al on business performance in the upcoming quarters is expected to show balanced growth around volume and price mix, with the potential for variance around the balance algorithm. The company is managing all the levers to continue delivering balanced growth, which includes pricing and affordability options.

A：The company is working with its borrowing partners to address the impact of inflation, having a playbook for disruptions that has been effective for a few years, and is confident in its local-level decision-making ability to navigate through the challenges. It is keeping agility at the center of its strategy and has been successfully managing through similar challenges over the last 3-5 years.

A：The strategies in place to effectively introduce and promote the new product, 0.0, in Europe include a focus on RGM capabilities, a cross-enterprise procurement group working with system partners, and a detailed plan that varies by market. The company started stepping up its RGM capabilities years ago and has been improving daily. The 0.0 product resonated with consumers because it met a specific need in the market and was communicated with the right packaging, pricing, and marketing.

A：The company's decisions related to the product's packaging and consumer messaging are informed by insights into consumer behavior and preferences, a focus on the brand's core values, and an effective marketing strategy. The successful introduction of 0.0 in Europe was the result of identifying a need in the market for reduced caffeine intake at a certain time of day while still enjoying the brand's flavors, which led to effective packaging, pricing, and communication strategies.

A：The company acknowledges the negative contribution to gross margin in the current quarter and attributes it to timing elements related to inflation impacts, such as coffee, tea, and sugar. The general progression of the underlying contribution to gross margin is expected to improve as costs normalize. The timing of certain costs, such as coffee, dictates the margin progression in the back half of the year. The company is confident in its ability to manage through these temporary challenges and is focused on long-term strategies for improving gross margin performance.

A：The anomalous Q1 gross margin profile in APAC was caused by the phasing of juice inventory costs in China, which is considered a one-off event. The company anticipates commodity pressures in the tea and coffee space to persist throughout the year. To manage these pressures, the company is taking several measures to maintain efficiency across the P&L and is focusing on mitigating the impact of the identified commodities. Despite the challenges, the company does not view the gross margin trends as regressive.

A：The strong performance results in APAC, especially in China and India, are expected to be sustainable due to ongoing volume growth across all core units and the gain in market share. The company is focusing on developing the industry in these regions by building foundations for their business, particularly on the right price-pack architecture that allows winning in the market. In China, the company has adopted a selective approach to categories, focusing on quality and volume in categories where they believe they can win, which is starting to yield benefits. In India, the focus is on long-term building, utilizing local brands to connect with consumers. However, there is still much work to be done as most countries in APAC are in the early stages of development.

A：The negative price mix in APAC of -6 points is primarily due to the company's investment strategy for the future, where short-term investments are being made to build a strong foundation for long-term growth. In this quarter, several factors impacted the price mix, but the company's focus remains on strengthening the system health and building an economic system that allows for ahead-of-the-curve investments. This is crucial for bringing more consumers into the base. The company acknowledges that although the overall architecture on Return on Gross Margin (RGM) and development capabilities are still evolving, it is a necessary investment for the maturation of the market.

A：To improve margins in the APAC region, the company is addressing the unique inventory item that impacted Q1 margins and has plans to continue making progress on this throughout the year. The priority is to get the consumer base even closer to the company, which is a longer-term play. There is a recognition that APAC is a market with significant opportunities and that improving margins will not happen overnight. The company is leveraging its global portfolio to ensure it can invest appropriately in the short term to achieve the desired margin profile in the long term.

A：The conflict in EMEA and the prospect of inflation, which will affect fuel and gasoline prices and the ability of bottlers to pass costs on, are factors that could influence the company's business in the region. While the impact is not specified, the conflict and inflationary pressures could create challenges for the company's operations and profitability in EMEA.

A：The outlook from the region is confident in managing the complexity, with a focus on balanced growth and volume as a key driver.

A：The Webster capacity is expected to start contributing to online growth in Q2 and to ramp up through the year, providing a boost to the business.

A：There are opportunities to accelerate volumes and brand activation in North America, particularly with the upcoming World Cup. The activation started in Q1, and the impact is expected to be realized in Q2, with a focus on digital execution and consumer engagement.

A：The business in Mexico is performing well despite the sugar tax. The system has a strong resilience plan which, with proper management, has allowed the company to perform better than expected.

A：The company's focus is on expanding the beverage occasions in the away from home business, continuing to develop the category with the help of customers and detailed consumer profile understanding, and driving more insights on this channel.

A：While specific details are not provided, the transition has been very smooth, suggesting that new learnings and potential marketing changes may be in the process of being implemented.

A：The key strategies that have contributed to the company's success include being in the best industry, having an unrivaled portfolio of billion dollar brands, and an unmatched system range with bottlers. These strategies are underpinned by a focus on consumer-centric innovation and leveraging digital tools to enhance the company's core competencies, leading to growth opportunities.

A：The company is evolving its food service strategy by continuing its long-standing partnership with McDonald's and embedding its craft beverage offerings into conversations about how to be part of the new retail channels. The company's SPR brand has been doing very well in the craft beverage space, and this expands the opportunity for the company to play within that segment.

A：The company has a fantastic and long-standing partnership with McDonald's, and they are very happy with the partnership. McDonald's is creating craft beverage offerings, and the company is totally embedded in those conversations. The company's SPR brand is doing very well in this space, with two flavors, Sprite Berry Blast and Lunar Splash, that are performing extremely well.

A：The company maintains an unprecedented level of trust and a great relationship with the bottlers, which is nurtured daily. The trust brings agility and a bigger value to the ecosystem. The company is consumer-centric and works to honor the choices of their consumers, ensuring that they are present and responsive every day to improve and scale their operations.

A：The first quarter experienced volume and mix headwinds, which were not as expected, particularly in North America due to a stronger category mix than anticipated. However, the company does not expect this situation to repeat going forward. The guidance for the rest of the year remains committed to achieving a balanced algorithm-driven performance, and the company is confident in meeting the expectations.