RISK & RESILIENCE
Building resilience through diversity Supplier diversity takes on heightened importance in an era of geopolitical uncertainty. For Coca-Cola, fostering a competitive and diverse supply base serves multiple strategic objectives beyond traditional risk management.
“ Coca-Cola procurement works to nurture a competitive supply base by actively seeking multiple and diverse suppliers for key commodities,” explains Daniel. It’ s a strategy, he notes, that has been specifically“ implemented to manage both supplier risk and deliver business continuity.”
This diversification operates on multiple levels. Geographically, the company ensures that critical ingredients and materials can be sourced from various regions, reducing dependency on any single country or trade corridor.“ We also aim to diversify our suppliers’ countries of origin to mitigate the risk of single points of failure,” Daniel emphasises.
This geographical diversification proves particularly valuable when dealing with what procurement professionals euphemistically term“ force majeure” events – political instability, natural disasters or trade disputes that can shut down entire supply regions.“ By sourcing from different areas, we can better manage disruptions caused by events like political instability, trade wars, earthquakes or floods,” notes Daniel.
Strategic supplier relationships Whilst diversification provides optionality, Coca-Cola simultaneously invests heavily in deepening relationships with key strategic suppliers. This approach recognises that some supplier relationships transcend simple transactional exchanges and become genuine partnerships that drive mutual growth.
“ Our first priority is investing in longterm relationships with certain key strategic suppliers,” explains Daniel. These relationships are characterised
48 July 2025