Excerpted from CNNMoney.com: The burger and beverage recession, February 9, 2010
People are holding back on buying burgers, soda and beer. So much for fast food, soft drinks and booze being recession-proof.
Sure, the worst of this downturn may in fact be over, but don’t tell that to Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Molson Coors.
- Coke’s fourth-quarter profit that was led by robust sales growth in markets such as India, China and Brazil. But North America revenue fell 4%.
- McDonald’s said that same-store sales, a key measure of growth at restaurants open at least a year, rose more than 4% in Europe as well as in its Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa division. But, U.S. same-store sales were down 0.7%.
- Molson Coors reported that demand for its beers in international markets in the fourth quarter was frothy, with volume rising 14% thanks to healthy sales in Europe, China and Latin America. Yet, sales fell in the U.S. during the quarter.
It appears that U.S. consumers are serious about keeping an eye on their budgets … even for relatively inexpensive creature comforts such as a Big Mac or six-packs of Coke Zero or Coors Light.
“People aren’t as panicked, but they are still hanging on to their wallets pretty tight. The big question hanging out there is whether this recession has been long enough and deep enough to change consumer spending for an extended period of time.”
Full article:
http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/09/markets/thebuzz/index.htm
The Homa Files 
Leave a comment