64 THE WARREN BUFFETT WAY
big mistakes.”^5 Producing above-average results, Buffett has learned,
often comes from doing ordinary things. The key is to do those things
exceptionally well.
Coca-Cola Company
The business of Coca-Cola is relatively simple. The company purchases
commodity inputs and combines them to manufacture a concentrate
that is sold to bottlers. The bottlers then combine the concentrate with
other ingredients and sell the f inished product to retail outlets including
minimarts, supermarkets, and vending machines. The company also
provides soft drink syrups to fountain retailers, who sell soft drinks to
consumers in cups and glasses.
The company’s name brand products include Coca-Cola, Diet
Coke, Sprite, PiBB Xtra, Mello Yello, Fanta soft drinks, Tab, Dasani,
and Fresca. The company’s beverages also include Hi-C brand fruit
drinks, Minute Maid orange juice, Powerade, and Nestea. The company
owns 45 percent of Coca-Cola Enterprises, the largest bottler in the
United States, and 35 percent of Coca-Cola Amatil, an Australian bot-
tler that has interests not only in Australia but also in New Zealand and
Eastern Europe.
The strength of Coca-Cola is not only its name-brand products but
also its unmatched worldwide distribution system. Today, international
sales of Coca-Cola products account for 69 percent of the company’s
net sales and 80 percent of its prof its. In addition to Coca-Cola Amatil,
the company has equity interests in bottlers located in Mexico, South
America, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China.
The Washington Post Company
Buffett’s grandfather once owned and edited the Cuming County Demo-
crat,a weekly newspaper in West Point, Nebraska. His grandmother
helped out at the paper and also set the type at the family’s printing shop.
His father, while attending the University of Nebraska, edited the Daily
Nebraskan.Buffett himself was once the circulation manager for the
Lincoln Journal.It has often been said that if Buffett had not embarked
on a business career, he most surely would have pursued journalism.
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