Quotes by Gary Hemphill

“It is a rapidly changing beverage landscape and it is important for Coke to move quickly to deliver on what the consumer wants. The competition for shelf space is intense.”

“The competition for shelf space is intense.”

“Its obviously the summer holiday weekends, Memorial Day, Labor Day and the Fourth of July that tend to be the big three for refreshment. Sales can be greatly impacted.”

“Its not that they cant be successful, ... Its just that the bulk of the market in the U.S. tends to be middle- and low-price brands. You really have to tell a compelling story to convince people to pay more.”

“Theres a lot of innovation around products that fall under the umbrella of good for you. Increasingly thats the direction the consumer is moving.”

“[You may wonder why these drinks taste so awful. Apparently, awful is the point.] Not tasting great might have the potential of helping the product, ... That it has this medicinal quality kind of underlines why youre consuming the product, because it provides energy.”

“Consumers have moved up to products that they perceive as being higher quality.”

“They may not be drinking more, but theyre drinking better.”

“They were the first to recognize that the consumer was moving to noncarbonated products, and they innovated aggressively.”

“There are quite a few premium soda brands, but the vast majority are regional or local, (with) fairly limited distribution and availability. And distribution -- getting your product from the plant to the retailer -- is probably the single greatest challenge for beverage companies today.”