Retaining our competitive edge requires an intense, unrelenting focus on what our Company is all about—beverages. More than 1.4 billion servings of our products are enjoyed every day—nearly a million servings every minute. For 120 years, beverages have been our business, and we remain focused on being the strongest nonalcoholic beverage company in the world. With four of the world's top five nonalcoholic sparkling brands, our leadership position is clear. And it has given us the expertise to lead in several other beverage categories: Worldwide, we are No. 1 in sales of juice and juice drinks; No. 1 in sales of ready-to-drink coffees and teas; No. 2 in sales of sports drinks; and No. 3 in sales of water.

The geographic diversity of our Company gives us balance. As a general rule, when some markets are down, other markets are up. We are able to grow our unit case volume in spite of challenging markets. What did this mean in 2006? A year of flat unit case volume growth in North America and declining unit case volume in the Philippines was balanced by double-digit unit case volume growth in other markets, including 10 percent in Argentina, 15 percent in China, 26 percent in Russia and 10 percent in Turkey. We will continue to focus on these and other strong markets, such as Brazil, Mexico and Spain, while we implement customized plans for stabilization and growth in underperforming markets.

Our opportunities for growth are significant. Even in developed markets, only 62 percent of beverages consumed are nonalcoholic ready-to-drink. And in developing and emerging markets—places like China and India with fast-growing populations and ever-increasing spending power—just 40 percent of all beverages consumed are nonalcoholic ready-to-drink. We are capturing these tremendous opportunities by focusing on providing ready-to-drink beverages that honor local cultures, preferences and tastes.

From the beginning of my relationship with The Coca-Cola Company, I have experienced the global—and very local—nature of the Coca-Cola business. My family moved from Northern Ireland to Zambia, Africa, when I was 10 years old, and I fell in love with the continent—its people, wildlife and ecosystems. Although I studied social science at university in South Africa, I took a job with the Coca-Cola system in Kitwe, Zambia, more than 40 years ago. Even back then, Coca-Cola was considered a local company rather than a multinational corporation.

Multiply my own story by the 71,000 of our associates who live and work around the world—nearly 59,000 of them outside of the United States—and you begin to see the local nature of our global business. Add the local bottling partners, suppliers and customers who sell our beverages from grocery stores to roadside kiosks, and it is clear just how closely our business is interwoven with local economies and communities. What makes our business different, and even more deeply ingrained in local life, is that nearly all of our beverages are produced by local people, using local resources. The nature of our business gives us deeper local consumer insights, production sites close to our markets and significant supply chain efficiencies. Our business is an integral component of local economies. Through salaries, taxes, benefits and relationships with local bottling and business partners, we help fuel economies around the world.