By Laura Cooper

Coca-Cola's new Chief Executive Henrique Braun has a magic number: 1.25.

That is how many liters of Coke -- or other beverages -- that Braun said can hit the sweet spot for budget-minded consumers. The CEO, who took the soda company's reins on March 31, sees that size, along with expanded sales of mini cans, as "a choice that fits into their daily disposable income."

American shoppers are shaky again. The University of Michigan's consumer-sentiment index has dropped to its lowest reading in the survey's history, weighed by the Iran war, persistent inflation and a weakening job market. For Braun, it ratchets up longer-running challenges of keeping Coke's brands relevant with a new generation as fewer Americans drink soda and as they tighten their purse strings.

On Tuesday, Coke reported higher first-quarter profit, boosted by a 12% rise in sales -- stronger than analysts had expected.

The Wall Street Journal talked to Braun about affordability, consumers' mood and Coke's decadeslong relationship with McDonald's, as the burger chain rolls out a new beverage line.

WSJ: What are you hearing from consumers on affordability?

HENRIQUE BRAUN: If they are under pressure on daily disposable income we need to find ways to get there. Our strategy has always been to provide that with the best packaging, pricing architecture, rather than just lowering prices or using discounts over time.

For North America, for instance, we saw the success of mini cans and multipacks, and we brought the single-serve mini pack to the convenience retail stores, which now becomes the first entry price pack point for the consumers.

We also launched the 1.25-liter package. That package is the entry point for at-home consumption. It allows the consumer to go and have a choice that fits into their daily disposable income.

Equally important is the premiumization. Let's get back to North America -- where we grew 4% volume -- it continues to be a place where we also see the mix of categories working for us over time.

WSJ: McDonald's recently announced a line of crafted sodas and energy drinks, including some with Red Bull. What's your take, as McDonald's decadeslong beverage partner?

BRAUN: The longstanding partnership with McDonald's continues to be fantastic. We have been part of the work that McDonald's has been doing. We have Sprite Berry Blast and Sprite Lunar Splash [in the lineup].

At the end of the day beverages are getting more space and more occasions. Are we continuing to be a big winner? Yes.

As we do with all our customers, we respect their decisions, but we always try to push to continue to be the number one provider of every choice of beverages for all consumers, and it's no different for McDonald's as well. It's one of the longest standing partnerships in the world.

WSJ: How will you be using artificial intelligence to reach consumers or automate operations?

BRAUN: We have already been working with AI since the first machine learning versions up to now, GenAI. On the creation of our campaigns, the last couple of years on the Christmas campaign we used GenAI, and we did that at a fraction of the cost and way faster than we used to.

By using AI, we can actually use our data with our bottlers and have a suggested digital ordering that indicates the next [stock-keeping unit] or item that has the best chances of success for that particular channel.

There's a lot more room in there for us to learn from and to push forward but we are very excited and believe that this can be a superpower for us moving forward.

Write to Laura Cooper at laura.cooper@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2026 12:59 ET (16:59 GMT)

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