ITEM 1.    BUSINESS

In this report, the terms "The Coca-Cola Company," "Company," "we," "us" and "our" mean The Coca-Cola Company and all entities included in our consolidated financial statements.

General

The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company. We own or license and market more than 500 nonalcoholic beverage brands including sparkling beverages and a variety of still beverages such as waters, flavored waters and enhanced waters, juices and juice drinks, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, sports drinks, dairy, and energy drinks. We own and market four of the world's top five nonalcoholic sparkling beverage brands: Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite. Finished beverage products bearing our trademarks, sold in the United States since 1886, are now sold in more than 200 countries.

We make our branded beverage products available to consumers throughout the world through our network of Company-owned or -controlled bottling and distribution operations as well as independent bottling partners, distributors, wholesalers and retailers — the world's largest beverage distribution system. Beverages bearing trademarks owned by or licensed to us account for more than 1.9 billion of the approximately 59 billion servings of all beverages consumed worldwide every day.

We believe our success depends on our ability to connect with consumers by providing them with a wide variety of options to meet their desires, needs and lifestyles. Our success further depends on the ability of our people to execute effectively, every day.

Our goal is to use our Company's assets — our brands, financial strength, unrivaled distribution system, global reach, and the talent and strong commitment of our management and associates — to become more competitive and to accelerate growth in a manner that creates value for our shareowners.

We were incorporated in September 1919 under the laws of the State of Delaware and succeeded to the business of a Georgia corporation with the same name that had been organized in 1892.

Operating Segments

The Company's operating structure is the basis for our internal financial reporting. As of December 31, 2016 , our operating structure included the following operating segments, the first five of which are sometimes referred to as "operating groups" or "groups":

Except to the extent that differences among operating segments are material to an understanding of our business taken as a whole, the description of our business in this report is presented on a consolidated basis.

For financial information about our operating segments and geographic areas, refer to Note 19 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements set forth in Part II, "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this report, incorporated herein by reference. For certain risks attendant to our non-U.S. operations, refer to "Item 1A. Risk Factors" below.

Products and Brands

As used in this report:

Our Company markets, manufactures and sells:

Generally, finished product operations generate higher net operating revenues but lower gross profit margins than concentrate operations.

In our concentrate operations, we typically generate net operating revenues by selling concentrates and syrups to authorized bottling and canning operations (to which we typically refer as our "bottlers" or our "bottling partners"). Our bottling partners either combine the concentrates with sweeteners (depending on the product), still water and/or sparkling water, or combine the syrups with sparkling water to produce finished beverages. The finished beverages are packaged in authorized containers — such as cans and refillable and nonrefillable glass and plastic bottles — bearing our trademarks or trademarks licensed to us and are then sold to retailers directly or, in some cases, through wholesalers or other bottlers. Outside the United States, we also sell concentrates for fountain beverages to our bottling partners who are typically authorized to manufacture fountain syrups, which they sell to fountain retailers such as restaurants and convenience stores which use the fountain syrups to produce beverages for immediate consumption, or to authorized fountain wholesalers who in turn sell and distribute the fountain syrups to fountain retailers.

Our finished product operations consist primarily of our Company-owned or -controlled bottling, sales and distribution operations, including Coca-Cola Refreshments' ("CCR") bottling and associated supply chain operations in the United States and Canada, and are included in our Bottling Investments operating segment. Our finished product operations generate net operating revenues by selling sparkling beverages and a variety of still beverages, such as juices and juice drinks, energy and sports drinks, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, and certain water products, to retailers or to distributors, wholesalers and bottling partners who distribute them to retailers. In addition, in the United States, we manufacture fountain syrups and sell them to fountain retailers, such as restaurants and convenience stores who use the fountain syrups to produce beverages for immediate consumption, or to authorized fountain wholesalers or bottling partners who resell the fountain syrups to fountain retailers. These fountain syrup sales are included in our North America operating segment. We authorize these wholesalers to resell our fountain syrups through nonexclusive appointments that neither restrict us in setting the prices at which we sell fountain syrups to the wholesalers nor restrict the territories in which the wholesalers may resell in the United States.

For information about net operating revenues and unit case volume related to our concentrate operations and finished product operations, refer to the heading "Our Business — General" set forth in Part II, "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" of this report, which is incorporated herein by reference.

We own numerous valuable nonalcoholic beverage brands, including the following:

In addition to the beverage brands we own, we also provide marketing support and otherwise participate in the sales of other nonalcoholic beverage brands through licenses, joint ventures and strategic partnerships, including, but not limited to, the following:

Consumer demand determines the optimal menu of Company product offerings. Consumer demand can vary from one market to another and can change over time within a single market. Employing our business strategy, our Company seeks to further build its existing brands and, at the same time, to broaden its portfolio of brands, products and services in order to create and satisfy consumer demand in every market.

We measure the volume of Company beverage products sold in two ways: (1) unit cases of finished products and (2) concentrate sales. As used in this report, "unit case" means a unit of measurement equal to 192 U.S. fluid ounces of finished beverage (24 eight-ounce servings), and "unit case volume" means the number of unit cases (or unit case equivalents) of Company beverage products directly or indirectly sold by the Company and its bottling partners ("Coca-Cola system") to customers. Unit case volume primarily consists of beverage products bearing Company trademarks. Also included in unit case volume are certain products licensed to, or distributed by, our Company, and brands owned by Coca-Cola system bottlers for which our Company provides marketing support and from the sale of which we derive economic benefit. In addition, unit case volume includes sales by certain joint ventures in which the Company has an equity interest. We believe unit case volume is one of the measures of the underlying strength of the Coca-Cola system because it measures trends at the consumer level. The unit case volume numbers used in this report are derived based on estimates received by the Company from its bottling partners and distributors. Concentrate sales volume represents the amount of concentrates and syrups (in all instances expressed in equivalent unit cases) sold by, or used in finished beverages sold by, the Company to its bottling partners or other customers. Unit case volume and concentrate sales volume growth rates are not necessarily equal during any given period. Factors such as seasonality, bottlers' inventory practices, supply point changes, timing of price increases, new product introductions and changes in product mix can impact unit case volume and concentrate sales volume and can create differences between unit case volume and concentrate sales volume growth rates. In addition to the items mentioned above, the impact of unit case volume from certain joint ventures in which the Company has an equity interest but to which the Company does not sell concentrates or syrups may give rise to differences between unit case volume and concentrate sales volume growth rates.

Distribution System

We make our branded beverage products available to consumers in more than 200 countries through our network of Company-owned or -controlled bottling and distribution operations, independent bottling partners, distributors, wholesalers and retailers — the world's largest beverage distribution system. Consumers enjoy finished beverage products bearing trademarks owned by or licensed to us at a rate of more than 1.9 billion servings each day. We continue to expand our marketing presence in an effort to increase our unit case volume and net operating revenues in developed, developing and emerging markets. Our strong and stable bottling and distribution system helps us to capture growth by manufacturing, distributing and marketing existing, enhanced and new innovative products to our consumers throughout the world.

The Coca-Cola system sold 29.3 billion , 29.2 billion and 28.6 billion unit cases of our products in 2016 , 2015 and 2014 , respectively. Sparkling beverages represented 72 percent, 73 percent and 73 percent of our worldwide unit case volume for 2016 , 2015 and 2014 , respectively. Trademark Coca-Cola accounted for 45 percent, 46 percent and 46 percent of our worldwide unit case volume for 2016 , 2015 and 2014 , respectively.

In 2016 , unit case volume in the United States represented 19 percent of the Company's worldwide unit case volume. Of the U.S. unit case volume, 66 percent was attributable to sparkling beverages and 34 percent to still beverages. Trademark Coca-Cola accounted for 42 percent of U.S. unit case volume. Unit case volume outside the United States represented 81 percent of the Company's worldwide unit case volume for 2016 . The countries outside the United States in which our unit case volumes were the largest were Mexico, China, Brazil and Japan, which together accounted for 31 percent of our worldwide unit case volume. Of the non-U.S. unit case volume, 73 percent was attributable to sparkling beverages and 27 percent to still beverages. Trademark Coca-Cola accounted for 46 percent of non-U.S. unit case volume.

Our five largest independent bottling partners based on unit case volume in 2016 were:

In 2016 , these five bottling partners combined represented 39 percent of our total unit case volume.

Being a bottler does not create a legal partnership or joint venture between us and our bottlers. Our bottlers are independent contractors and are not our agents.

Bottler's Agreements

We have separate contracts, to which we generally refer as "bottler's agreements," with our bottling partners regarding the manufacture and sale of Company products. Subject to specified terms and conditions and certain variations, the bottler’s agreements generally authorize the bottlers to prepare specified Company Trademark Beverages, to package the same in authorized containers, and to distribute and sell the same in (but, subject to applicable local law, generally only in) an identified territory. The bottler is obligated to purchase its entire requirement of concentrates or syrups for the designated Company Trademark Beverages from the Company or Company-authorized suppliers. We typically agree to refrain from selling or distributing, or from authorizing third parties to sell or distribute, the designated Company Trademark Beverages throughout the identified territory in the particular authorized containers; however, we typically reserve for ourselves or our designee the right (1) to prepare and package such Company Trademark Beverages in such containers in the territory for sale outside the territory, (2) to prepare, package, distribute and sell such Company Trademark Beverages in the territory in any other manner or form (territorial restrictions on bottlers vary in some cases in accordance with local law), and (3) to handle certain key accounts (accounts that cover multiple territories).

While under most of our bottler's agreements we generally have complete flexibility to determine the price and other terms of sale of the concentrates and syrups we sell to our bottlers, as a practical matter, our Company's ability to exercise its contractual flexibility to determine the price and other terms of sale of concentrates and syrups is subject, both outside and within the United States, to competitive market conditions. In addition, in some instances we have agreed or may in the future agree with a bottler with respect to concentrate pricing on a prospective basis for specified time periods. Also, in some markets, in an effort to allow our Company and our bottling partners to grow together through shared value, aligned incentives and the flexibility necessary to meet consumers' always changing needs and tastes, we worked with our bottling partners to develop and implement an incidence-based pricing model for sparkling and still beverages. Under this model, the concentrate price we charge is impacted by a number of factors, including, but not limited to, bottler pricing, the channels in which the finished products are sold and package mix.

As further discussed below, our bottler's agreements for territories outside the United States differ in some respects from our bottler's agreements for territories within the United States.

Bottler's Agreements Outside the United States

Bottler's agreements between us and our authorized bottlers outside the United States generally are of stated duration, subject in some cases to possible extensions or renewals. Generally, these bottler's agreements are subject to termination by the Company following the occurrence of certain designated events, including defined events of default and certain changes in ownership or control of the bottlers. Most of the bottler's agreements in force between us and bottlers outside the United States authorize the bottlers to manufacture and distribute fountain syrups, usually on a nonexclusive basis.

In certain parts of the world outside the United States, we have not granted comprehensive beverage production rights to the bottlers. In such instances, we or our authorized suppliers sell Company Trademark Beverages to the bottlers for sale and distribution throughout the designated territory, often on a nonexclusive basis.

Bottler's Agreements Within the United States

During the year ended December 31, 2016 , our Company-owned operations manufactured, sold and distributed  75 percent of our U.S. unit case volume. The discussion below relates to bottler's agreements for territories in the United States that are not covered by Company-owned operations.

In the United States, most bottler’s agreements are of stated duration, subject in most cases to renewal rights of bottlers and in some cases to renewal rights of the Company. Certain bottler's agreements for Trademark Coca-Cola Beverages and other cola-flavored beverages have no stated expiration date. The bottler's agreements in the United States are subject to termination by

the Company for nonperformance or upon the occurrence of certain defined events of default that may vary from contract to contract.

In conjunction with implementing a new beverage partnership model in North America, the Company granted certain additional exclusive territory rights for the distribution, promotion, marketing and sale of Company-owned and licensed beverage products (as defined by the comprehensive beverage agreements ("CBAs")) to certain U.S. bottlers. These expanding bottlers entered into new CBAs, to which we sometimes refer as "expanding bottler CBAs." Under the expanding bottler CBAs, the Company generally retained the rights to produce the applicable beverage products for territories not covered by specific manufacturing agreements and such bottlers purchase from the Company (or from Company-authorized manufacturing bottlers) substantially all of the finished beverage products needed in order to service the customers in these territories. The expanding bottler CBA has a term of 10 years and is renewable, in most cases by the bottler, and in some cases by the Company, indefinitely for successive additional terms of 10 years each, and includes additional requirements that provide for, among other things, a binding national governance model, mandatory incidence pricing and certain core performance requirements. The Company also entered into, or agreed to enter into, manufacturing agreements that authorize certain expanding bottlers that have executed expanding bottler CBAs to manufacture certain beverage products for their own account and for supply to other bottlers. Certain expanding bottlers in the United States also agreed to convert their bottler's agreements for legacy territories and initial CBAs to a single form of expanding bottler CBA, which will provide consistency across each such bottler's respective territory, and consistency with other U.S. bottlers that have been granted or converted to an expanding bottler CBA. In addition, certain U.S. bottlers that were not granted additional exclusive territory rights agreed to convert their bottler’s agreements for legacy territories to a form of comprehensive beverage agreement to which we sometimes refer as "non-expanding bottler CBA." This form of CBA has a term of 10 years and is renewable by the bottler indefinitely for successive additional terms of 10 years each and is substantially similar in most material respects to the expanding bottler CBA, including with respect to requirements for a binding national governance model and mandatory incidence pricing, but includes core performance requirements that vary in certain respects from those in the expanding bottler CBA.

Certain of our bottlers continue to operate under bottler's agreements for certain Trademark Coca-Cola Beverages and other cola-flavored Company Trademark Beverages that include pricing formulas that generally provide for a baseline price. This baseline price may be adjusted periodically by the Company, up to a maximum indexed ceiling price, and is adjusted quarterly based upon changes in certain sugar or sweetener prices, as applicable. Certain other bottlers operate under our oldest form of bottler's agreement which provides for a fixed price for Coca-Cola syrup used in bottles and cans, and this price is subject to quarterly adjustments to reflect changes in the quoted price of sugar. The U.S. unit case volume manufactured, sold and distributed under these legacy bottler's agreements is not material.

Under the terms of the bottler's agreements, bottlers in the United States generally are not authorized to manufacture fountain syrups. Rather, the Company manufactures and sells fountain syrups to authorized fountain wholesalers (including certain authorized bottlers) and some fountain retailers. These wholesalers in turn sell the syrups or deliver them on our behalf to restaurants and other retailers.

Promotions and Marketing Programs

In addition to conducting our own independent advertising and marketing activities, we may provide promotional and marketing services and/or funds to our bottlers. In most cases, we do this on a discretionary basis under the terms of commitment letters or agreements, even though we are not obligated to do so under the terms of the bottler's or distribution agreements between our Company and the bottlers. Also, on a discretionary basis in most cases, our Company may develop and introduce new products, packages and equipment to assist the bottlers. Likewise, in many instances, we provide promotional and marketing services and/or funds and/or dispensing equipment and repair services to fountain and bottle/can retailers, typically pursuant to marketing agreements. The aggregate amount of funds provided by our Company to bottlers, resellers or other customers of our Company's products, principally for participation in promotional and marketing programs, was $ 6.6 billion in 2016 .

Investments in Bottling Operations

Most of our branded beverage products are manufactured, sold and distributed by independent bottling partners. However, from time to time we acquire or take control of bottling operations, often in underperforming markets where we believe we can use our resources and expertise to improve performance. Owning such a controlling interest enables us to compensate for limited local resources; help focus the bottler's sales and marketing programs; assist in the development of the bottler's business and information systems; and establish an appropriate capital structure for the bottler. In line with our long-term bottling strategy, we may periodically consider options for divesting or reducing our ownership interest in a Company-owned or -controlled bottler, typically by selling our interest in a particular bottling operation to an independent bottler to improve Coca-Cola system efficiency. When we sell our interest in a bottling operation to one of our other bottling partners in which we have an equity method investment, our Company continues to participate in the bottler's results of operations through our share of the equity method investee's earnings or losses.

In addition, from time to time we make equity investments representing noncontrolling interests in selected bottling operations with the intention of maximizing the strength and efficiency of the Coca-Cola system's production, marketing, sales and distribution capabilities around the world by providing expertise and resources to strengthen those businesses. These investments are intended to result in increases in unit case volume, net revenues and profits at the bottler level, which in turn generate increased concentrate sales for our Company's concentrate and syrup business. When this occurs, both we and our bottling partners benefit from long-term growth in volume and improved cash flows. When our equity investment provides us with the ability to exercise significant influence over the investee bottler's operating and financial policies, we account for the investment under the equity method, and we sometimes refer to such a bottler as an "equity method investee bottler" or "equity method investee."

Our equity method investee bottlers include Coca-Cola FEMSA, CCEP, Coca-Cola Hellenic and Coca-Cola İçecek, in which as of December 31, 2016 , we had equity ownership interests of 28 percent , 18 percent , 23 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

Seasonality

Sales of our nonalcoholic ready-to-drink beverages are somewhat seasonal, with the second and third calendar quarters accounting for the highest sales volumes. The volume of sales in the beverage business may be affected by weather conditions.

Competition

The nonalcoholic beverage segment of the commercial beverage industry is highly competitive, consisting of numerous companies ranging from small or emerging to very large and well established. These include companies that, like our Company, compete in multiple geographic areas, as well as businesses that are primarily regional or local in operation. Competitive products include numerous nonalcoholic sparkling beverages; various water products, including packaged, flavored and enhanced waters; juices and nectars; fruit drinks and dilutables (including syrups and powdered drinks); coffees and teas; energy and sports and other performance-enhancing drinks; filtered milk and other dairy-based drinks; functional beverages, including vitamin-based products and relaxation beverages; and various other nonalcoholic beverages. These competitive beverages are sold to consumers in both ready-to-drink and other than ready-to-drink form. In many of the countries in which we do business, including the United States, PepsiCo, Inc. ("PepsiCo"), is one of our primary competitors. Other significant competitors include, but are not limited to, Nestlé, DPSG, Groupe Danone, Mondelēz International, Inc. ("Mondelēz"), The Kraft Heinz Company ("Kraft"), Suntory Beverage & Food Limited ("Suntory") and Unilever. In certain markets, our competition also includes beer companies. We also compete against numerous regional and local companies and, in some markets, against retailers that have developed their own store or private label beverage brands.

Competitive factors impacting our business include, but are not limited to, pricing, advertising, sales promotion programs, product innovation, increased efficiency in production techniques, the introduction of new packaging, new vending and dispensing equipment, and brand and trademark development and protection.

Our competitive strengths include leading brands with high levels of consumer acceptance; a worldwide network of bottlers and distributors of Company products; sophisticated marketing capabilities; and a talented group of dedicated associates. Our competitive challenges include strong competition in all geographic regions and, in many countries, a concentrated retail sector with powerful buyers able to freely choose among Company products, products of competitive beverage suppliers and individual retailers' own store or private label beverage brands.

Raw Materials

Water is a main ingredient in substantially all of our products. While historically we have not experienced significant water supply difficulties, water is a limited natural resource in many parts of the world, and our Company recognizes water availability, quality and sustainability, for both our operations and also the communities where we operate, as one of the key challenges facing our business.

In addition to water, the principal raw materials used in our business are nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners. In the United States, the principal nutritive sweetener is high fructose corn syrup ("HFCS"), which is nutritionally equivalent to sugar. HFCS is available from numerous domestic sources and has historically been subject to fluctuations in its market price. The principal nutritive sweetener used by our business outside the United States is sucrose, i.e., table sugar, which is also available from numerous sources and has historically been subject to fluctuations in its market price. Our Company generally has not experienced any difficulties in obtaining its requirements for nutritive sweeteners. In the United States, we purchase HFCS to meet our and our bottlers' requirements with the assistance of Coca-Cola Bottlers' Sales & Services Company LLC ("CCBSS"). CCBSS is a limited liability company that is owned by authorized Coca-Cola bottlers doing business in the United States. Among other things, CCBSS provides procurement services to our Company for the purchase of various goods and services in the United States, including HFCS.

The principal non-nutritive sweeteners we use in our business are aspartame, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate and steviol glycoside. Generally, these raw materials are readily available from numerous sources. However, our Company purchases aspartame, an important non-nutritive sweetener that is used alone or in combination with other important non-nutritive sweeteners such as saccharin or acesulfame potassium in our low- and no-calorie sparkling beverage products, primarily from Ajinomoto Co., Inc. and SinoSweet Co., Ltd., which we consider to be our primary sources for the supply of this product. In addition, we purchase sucralose, which we consider a critical raw material, from a limited number of suppliers in the United States and China. We work closely with our primary sucralose suppliers to maintain continuity of supply. However, global demand for sucralose has increased in recent years as consumer products companies are reformulating food and beverages to replace high-intensity sweeteners with non-nutritive sweeteners, primarily sucralose. In addition, the Chinese sucralose industry has been impacted by the imposition of stringent environmental requirements that have reduced or closed production. To mitigate the impact of the increase in demand and tightening of supply of sucralose, we are working with our existing suppliers to secure additional volume and are expanding our sucralose supplier base as well as assessing additional internal contingency plans to address any potential shortages. Our Company generally has not experienced major difficulties in obtaining its requirements for non-nutritive sweeteners and we do not anticipate such difficulties in the future.

Juice and juice concentrate from various fruits, particularly orange juice and orange juice concentrate, are the principal raw materials for our juice and juice drink products. We source our orange juice and orange juice concentrate primarily from Florida and the Southern Hemisphere (particularly Brazil). We work closely with Cutrale Citrus Juices U.S.A., Inc., our primary supplier of orange juice from Florida and Brazil, to ensure an adequate supply of orange juice and orange juice concentrate that meets our Company's standards. However, the citrus industry is impacted by greening disease and the variability of weather conditions. In particular, freezing weather or hurricanes in central Florida may result in shortages and higher prices for orange juice and orange juice concentrate throughout the industry. In addition, greening disease is reducing the number of trees and increasing grower costs and prices.

Our Company-owned or consolidated bottling and canning operations and our finished product business also purchase various other raw materials including, but not limited to, polyethylene terephthalate ("PET") resin, preforms and bottles; glass and aluminum bottles; aluminum and steel cans; plastic closures; aseptic fiber packaging; labels; cartons; cases; postmix packaging; and carbon dioxide. We generally purchase these raw materials from multiple suppliers and historically have not experienced significant shortages.

Patents, Copyrights, Trade Secrets and Trademarks

Our Company owns numerous patents, copyrights and trade secrets, as well as substantial know-how and technology, which we collectively refer to in this report as "technology." This technology generally relates to our Company's products and the processes for their production; the packages used for our products; the design and operation of various processes and equipment used in our business; and certain quality assurance software. Some of the technology is licensed to suppliers and other parties. Our sparkling beverage and other beverage formulae are among the important trade secrets of our Company.

We own numerous trademarks that are very important to our business. Depending upon the jurisdiction, trademarks are valid as long as they are in use and/or their registrations are properly maintained. Pursuant to our bottler's agreements, we authorize our bottlers to use applicable Company trademarks in connection with their manufacture, sale and distribution of Company products. In addition, we grant licenses to third parties from time to time to use certain of our trademarks in conjunction with certain merchandise and food products.

Governmental Regulation

Our Company is required to comply, and it is our policy to comply, with all applicable laws in the numerous countries throughout the world in which we do business. In many jurisdictions, compliance with competition laws is of special importance to us, and our operations may come under special scrutiny by competition law authorities due to our competitive position in those jurisdictions.

In the United States, the safety, production, transportation, distribution, advertising, labeling and sale of our Company's products and their ingredients are subject to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; the Federal Trade Commission Act; the Lanham Act; state consumer protection laws; competition laws; federal, state and local workplace health and safety laws; various federal, state and local environmental protection laws; and various other federal, state and local statutes and regulations. Outside the United States, our business is subject to numerous similar statutes and regulations, as well as other legal and regulatory requirements.

Under a California law known as Proposition 65, if the state has determined that a substance causes cancer or harms human reproduction, a warning must be provided for any product sold in the state that exposes consumers to that substance. The state maintains lists of these substances and periodically adds other substances to these lists. Proposition 65 exposes all food and beverage producers to the possibility of having to provide warnings on their products in California because it does not provide for any generally applicable quantitative threshold below which the presence of a listed substance is exempt from the warning requirement. Consequently, the detection of even a trace amount of a listed substance can subject an affected product to the requirement of a warning label. However, Proposition 65 does not require a warning if the manufacturer of a product can demonstrate that the use of that product exposes consumers to a daily quantity of a listed substance that is:

One or more substances that are currently on the Proposition 65 lists, or that may be added in the future, can be detected in certain Company products at low levels that are safe. With respect to substances that have not yet been listed under Proposition 65, the Company takes the position that listing is not scientifically justified. With respect to substances that are already listed, the Company takes the position that the presence of each such substance in Company products is subject to an applicable exemption from the warning requirement or that the product is otherwise in compliance with Proposition 65. The state of California and other parties, however, have in the past taken a contrary position and may do so in the future.

Bottlers of our beverage products presently offer and use nonrefillable recyclable containers in the United States and various other markets around the world. Some of these bottlers also offer and use refillable containers, which are also recyclable. Legal requirements apply in various jurisdictions in the United States and overseas requiring that deposits or certain ecotaxes or fees be charged in connection with the sale, marketing and use of certain beverage containers. The precise requirements imposed by these measures vary. Other types of statutes and regulations relating to beverage container deposits, recycling, ecotaxes and/or product stewardship also apply in various jurisdictions in the United States and overseas. We anticipate that additional such legal requirements may be proposed or enacted in the future at local, state and federal levels, both in the United States and elsewhere.

All of our Company's facilities and other operations in the United States and elsewhere around the world are subject to various environmental protection statutes and regulations, including those relating to the use of water resources and the discharge of wastewater. Our policy is to comply with all such legal requirements. Compliance with these provisions has not had, and we do not expect such compliance to have, any material adverse effect on our Company's capital expenditures, net income or competitive position.

Employees

As of December 31, 2016 and 2015 , our Company had approximately 100,300 and 123,200 employees, respectively, of which approximately 2,900 and 3,300, respectively, were employed by consolidated variable interest entities ("VIEs"). The decrease in the total number of employees in 2016 was primarily due to the refranchising of certain bottling territories that were previously managed by CCR to certain of the Company's unconsolidated bottling partners, as well as the deconsolidation of our German and South African bottling operations. For more information about the North America refranchising transactions and deconsolidation of our German and South African bottling operations, refer to Note 2 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements set forth in Part II, "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this report. As of December 31, 2016 and 2015 , our Company had approximately 51,000 and 60,900 employees, respectively, located in the United States, of which approximately 400 and 500, respectively, were employed by consolidated VIEs.

Our Company, through its divisions and subsidiaries, is a party to numerous collective bargaining agreements. As of December 31, 2016 , approximately 16,300 employees, excluding seasonal hires, in North America were covered by collective bargaining agreements. These agreements typically have terms of three years to five years . We currently expect that we will be able to renegotiate such agreements on satisfactory terms when they expire.

The Company believes that its relations with its employees are generally satisfactory.

Securities Exchange Act Reports

The Company maintains a website at the following address: www.coca-colacompany.com. The information on the Company's website is not incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We make available on or through our website certain reports and amendments to those reports that we file with or furnish to the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") in accordance with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("Exchange Act"). These include our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. We make this information available on our website free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file the information with, or furnish it to, the SEC.