Partners in the Promise Speech

Muhtar Kent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company
Atlanta, Georgia
May 6, 2010

As prepared for delivery

Thank you, Rick (Frazier), and good evening, everyone. What a privilege it is to join you on this very special night -- our Ninth Annual Partners in the Promise Awards Celebration.

Tonight is really our turn to recognize all of the great partners and associates in our supplier network for the outstanding work you do in supporting our Company. This is also a chance to pause, refresh and celebrate the progress we're making together toward our supplier diversity goals.

To my way of thinking, Partners in the Promise is also about building stronger relationships with each of you. And it's about building a stronger Coca-Cola system... and building stronger brands.

Indeed, a brand is really nothing more than a promise -- a promise we make to our consumers, our customers, our employees, our suppliers and everyone who interacts with our system. If a good brand is a promise... then a great brand is a promise kept.

I would argue that one of the most important promises we can ever make is to ensure that the collective genius that lies within diverse people and cultures has a chance to thrive and grow.

We take that promise as seriously and passionately as we do protecting and enhancing the Coca-Cola brand.

True innovation, we have found, comes from this beautiful fusion of cultures, ideas, beliefs and experiences.

Thanks to you, we've come a long way since our public commitment to supplier diversity in 2000. This past year, we invested $460 million in support of minority and women-owned businesses, a nearly 12 percent gain from 2008, and nearly a seven-fold gain from our 2000 level.

Having said that, we recognize that we still have much work to do in promoting greater diversity across our supplier network. Quite frankly, the great work of Johnnie and Ken and so many others here tonight will never be finished. This is, after all, a continuous journey and not a set destination. We remain constructively discontent ... and always will.

We've all heard leaders talk about diversity in terms of business strategy, competitive advantage, and doing the right thing. In our case at The Coca-Cola Company, it's all that and more. Quite frankly it's the most fundamental reality of our business.

Think about this: Our very name, "Coca-Cola," is the second-most widely recognized term on the planet. Only the word "okay" is understood by more people.

Coca-Cola isn't just a drink. It's an idea. An emotion... and a journey. Coca-Cola is refreshment and connection. And it touches everyone. It's a shared experience -- a common thread that ties our diverse world together.

I consider it a privilege to be associated with a company and its business partners who have had such a profound effect on so many. I also consider it a privilege to have lived a life of such rich diversity.

Like many of you this evening, most of my life has been seen through the lens of a multi-cultural world. The world I have seen... the world many of you have seen... is now the reality for most of us. It's a dynamic and diverse world -- a world of infinitely more common ground than differences.

Here in the United States, the multi-cultural population now exceeds 100 million people. In just two decades, it's projected that the minority here will be the majority. Today, ethnic minority-owned firms account for nearly 1 in 5 of all U.S. businesses, and they generate more than $600 billion dollars in revenue.

Women-owned firms in America will continue to be significant drivers of growth as well. In fact, today, U.S. women-owned firms account for nearly $3 trillion dollars in GDP.

Similar demographic and economic trends are playing out around the world. By 2020, the so-called E-7 economies of China, India, Brazil, Russia, Turkey, Indonesia and Mexico will rival the economic clout of the industrialized G-7 nations.

These nations along with many nations in Africa also account for the greatest concentration of growth we're seeing in women's entrepreneurship.

By 2020, nearly a billion citizens from the emerging economies of the world will have entered the middle class, bringing their voice and purchasing power to the market.

In order to compete and succeed in this environment... our company, our business partners and our nation must seek inclusion from every race and gender.

I am convinced that harnessing the creative genius that lies within diversity -- and building winning cultures -- will be among the greatest business imperatives of the 21st century.

Everyone plays a role. Everyone contributes. Everyone is part of the Secret Formula of diversity.

Thank you all again for being such great partners and for promoting -- and more importantly, acting on -- the ideals of supplier diversity.

Thank you, everyone.