Coca-cola Economic Audit

Audit Phase: V-ECON — Economic Forensics
Date: May 2026
Prepared by: Domain Audit Unit

Supply Chain & Sourcing Relationships

Direct Franchise & Bottling Relationships

The Coca-Cola Company’s primary operational link to Israel runs through Central Bottling Company (CBC), also known as Coca-Cola Israel, which holds TCCC’s exclusive bottling franchise in Israel¹³. This relationship is contractual — a franchise and concentrate-supply agreement — rather than an equity stake held by TCCC in CBC. CBC is a privately held Israeli company controlled by the Wertheim family, with David Wertheim reported as holding approximately 63% of shares⁸¹. CBC’s product portfolio extends well beyond carbonated soft drinks to include juice (Prigat), dairy (Tara), and water (Neviot).

Juice & Concentrate Supply Chain

CBC’s subsidiary Prigat, which produces juices and fruit concentrates, sources its raw materials through Gat Foods, an Israeli manufacturer that self-describes as producing RTD fruit-based solutions drawing on the Israeli agricultural market²⁹. Gat Foods does not publicly disclose farm-level or aggregator-level supplier relationships.

Mehadrin, a publicly documented Israeli agricultural aggregator, operates citrus and avocado cultivation in the Jordan Valley and Golan Heights and is identified by Who Profits as operating in occupied territory¹³⁰. The structural argument that Gat Foods may source from Mehadrin is plausible given Israeli agricultural market consolidation, but no invoice, customs record, or published supply chain audit confirming a direct contractual relationship between Gat Foods and Mehadrin was identified. This remains an inference, not a verified finding.

Hadiklaim is documented as the primary Medjool date exporter from the Jordan Valley, with its operations there recorded by Corporate Occupation¹⁵. No public procurement record linking Hadiklaim to TCCC, Prigat, or Gat Foods was identified.

Galilee Export operates as an Israeli fresh produce aggregator and exporter³¹. No direct contractual relationship with TCCC or its affiliates was identified in publicly accessible records.

Ethical Consumer’s 2024 campaign material identifies Coca-Cola’s Israeli operations as connected to Palestinian-territory produce via the CBC/Prigat chain, though it does not cite a specific procurement contract¹⁶.

Importer-of-Record Structure

Prigat products enter the US market via Kayco, a kosher food importer and distributor that is not a TCCC subsidiary³⁹. Kayco operates as the importer of record in the US for these products; no evidence places a TCCC wholly-owned entity in the importer-of-record role for Prigat. In the UK, Prigat reaches retail via Drumstick Products Co Ltd, a third-party distributor with no documented affiliation to TCCC³. The current operational status of this UK distribution arrangement was not confirmed in recently accessible public records.

A prior research claim that “The Coca-Cola Export Corporation” acts as US importer of record for Israeli-produced Passover Coke was not independently verified. Available trade and consumer documentation consistently describes US Passover Coke (yellow cap) as domestically produced by US bottlers using cane or beet sugar, not imported from Israel²⁵. That claim is excluded from verified findings.

Innocent Drinks Sourcing

Innocent Drinks, a TCCC-majority-owned subsidiary operating within Coca-Cola Europacific Partners’ (CCEP) ecosystem, publishes a sourcing page listing citrus origins including Spain and other Mediterranean suppliers but does not specify Israel nor explicitly exclude it¹⁷¹⁸. No seasonal procurement contract with Israeli aggregators, customs filing, or investigative report confirming Israeli citrus in Innocent’s supply chain was identified in public records. CCEP’s 2024 Sustainability Country Data documents ingredient sourcing but does not list Israel as a fruit-input sourcing country²⁶.

Gaza Bottling

The National Beverage Company (NBC) operates a Coca-Cola franchised bottling plant in Gaza. Who Profits documents that NBC has faced severe operational constraints due to the Israeli blockade of Gaza³⁸. NBC is a separate franchisee entity, not a TCCC subsidiary.

Product Origin, Labeling & Regulatory Compliance

Settlement-Origin Products — Tabor Winery

The most directly documented case of settlement-origin produce within the CBC portfolio is Tabor Winery, a wholly-owned CBC subsidiary. Who Profits documents Tabor as sourcing grapes from vineyards in the occupied Golan Heights and the occupied West Bank³²¹. Tabor Winery’s wines are labeled “Product of Israel.” The BDS Movement’s 2024 campaign material and Ethical Consumer’s 2024 Coca-Cola profile both cite Tabor Winery’s settlement sourcing as a core element of the broader Coca-Cola campaign²³⁷⁴². The Golan Heights sourcing is partially corroborated by Tabor’s own vineyard disclosures; the specific West Bank vineyard claim requires additional primary-source corroboration beyond the NGO database entries.

EU Labeling Requirements

The EU’s 2015 guidelines and the subsequent 2019 European Court of Justice ruling require that goods originating in Israeli settlements be labeled distinctly from “Product of Israel.” No public record of CBC or Tabor Winery demonstrably complying with — or being formally cited for non-compliance with — EU settlement-labeling rules was identified in publicly searchable enforcement records.

No DEFRA enforcement action, UK customs audit finding, or US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) determination specifically naming TCCC, CBC, Prigat, or Tabor Winery for mislabeled settlement goods was identified.

Corporate Policy Gaps

TCCC’s published Supplier Guiding Principles and Human Rights Policy³⁴ do not contain a specific clause addressing goods originating in occupied or contested territories³⁴. No public evidence was identified of a TCCC, CCEP, or Innocent Drinks policy specifically governing the sourcing or labeling of goods from occupied territories.

Passover Coke — Labeling

US-market Passover Coke is produced by domestic US bottlers using cane or beet sugar as a kosher-for-Passover substitute for corn syrup²⁵. No product-import or labeling compliance issue associated with Israeli-origin Passover Coke was substantiated.

Bangladesh Reputational Incident

A June 2024 Coca-Cola advertisement in Bangladesh sparked public backlash after the company was perceived as denying ties to Israel¹⁹. The incident generated significant media coverage. A prior research figure citing a “23% drop in market share” in Bangladesh was not corroborated by the Al Jazeera reporting¹⁹ or any independent market research identified, and is excluded as unverified.

Investment, Capital & Financial Exposure

Direct Equity in Israeli Entities

TCCC does not hold a direct equity stake in CBC. As noted above, CBC is a Wertheim family-controlled private company operating under a franchise agreement with TCCC¹³⁸.

TCCC participated in a documented $10 million Series B funding round for Bringg, an Israeli logistics technology company, in 2017¹⁰¹¹. Co-investors in that round included Aleph VC and Pereg Ventures. This constitutes a verified outward flow of TCCC capital into an Israeli-domiciled company. Bringg subsequently raised additional rounds (Series C 2019, Series D 2021), but whether TCCC retained, increased, or divested its stake in those subsequent rounds is not confirmed in public filings or TCCC’s 10-K disclosures, which do not itemise individual venture investments at this scale.

No TCCC-owned factories, warehouses, data centres, or real estate within Israel or occupied territories — distinct from CBC’s own operations — were identified in TCCC’s SEC filings or corporate disclosures³³.

The Bridge Accelerator Programme

TCCC established “The Bridge” startup commercialisation programme in Tel Aviv in 2014, documented as connecting Israeli entrepreneurs to TCCC’s global commercial networks¹²¹³. A 2017 expansion added corporate partners including Turner and Mercedes-Benz and approximately doubled the number of participating startups to around 30¹³. PitchBook lists “The Bridge by Coca-Cola” as an investor profile with an associated portfolio¹⁴. No 2022–2025 press releases, cohort announcements, or events confirming current active operations were identified; the programme’s post-2020 status is unknown and possibly discontinued or wound down.

Parent & Beneficial Ownership

TCCC (NYSE: KO) is a US-domiciled public corporation headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Its largest institutional shareholders are Berkshire Hathaway (~9.3%), Vanguard Group, and BlackRock, per SEC filings³³. None are Israeli-domiciled entities. No TCCC parent or majority shareholder with documented primary Israeli economic interests was identified.

No public evidence was identified of TCCC or its parent entity holding Israeli sovereign bonds or Israel-focused investment funds as disclosed portfolio positions in reviewed SEC filings or annual reports.

Concentrate & Royalty Flows

Under the franchise model, CBC pays TCCC concentrate and syrup fees and franchise royalties. The direction of primary financial flow is from CBC (Israel) to TCCC (USA/Atlanta)³³⁴⁰. TCCC does not invest operating capital into CBC’s business; it supplies concentrate and licenses the brand in exchange for fees.

Operational Presence & Market Activity

CBC’s Physical Footprint in Occupied Territory

CBC operates a regional distribution centre and cold-storage (“cooling houses”) facility within the Atarot Industrial Zone, located in occupied East Jerusalem¹⁴⁵. This is documented by Who Profits (2023 profile), the Institute for Palestine Studies, and Al-Haq. The Atarot Industrial Zone is classified by UN bodies and human rights organisations as an Israeli industrial settlement constructed on land expropriated from Palestinian communities north of Jerusalem⁴⁵. The facility is used for distribution of CBC products including Tara Dairy and Prigat. As of the most recent confirming sources (Who Profits 2023 profile; Corporate Occupation profile)¹⁴¹, the facility was documented as operational; its status following the escalation of conflict from October 2023 onward has not been independently confirmed in 2024–2025 public records.

Israeli Domestic Operations

CBC’s operational headquarters is in Bnei Brak, Israel¹. CBC operates bottling plants within Israel proper (inside the Green Line) and subsidiary facilities including Prigat juice processing, Tara Dairy (acquired 2004 for approximately $39 million)⁹, and Neviot water bottling³⁸. The BDS Movement and NGO sources characterise CBC as the dominant player in the Israeli carbonated soft drink market²¹.

Water Resource Context

Multiple human rights organisations — including B’Tselem and Amnesty International — document Israeli policies of water restriction in the West Bank as a structural feature of the occupation²³²⁴. Al Jazeera has documented settler wastewater issues in the West Bank context²². No document specifically naming Tara Dairy’s Atarot operations as a point-source pollution contributor was identified; the connection drawn in prior research between Tara and Atarot-area waste loads is an inference not independently verified.

Tax & Employment Presence

CBC is documented as a major employer in the Israeli food and beverage sector across its multi-category portfolio¹³. Specific headcount figures were not publicly disclosed in sources reviewed. No public evidence was identified of TCCC (Atlanta) holding a direct Israeli tax registration or filing Israeli corporate tax returns as a distinct Israeli legal entity.

CCEP & Coca-Cola HBC in the Region

CCEP’s 2024 Sustainability Country Data²⁶ and Coca-Cola HBC’s published sourcing pages²⁷ do not list Israel as a named ingredient-sourcing country or as a named operational market within those specific disclosure documents. Neither of these entities is identified in reviewed public records as having a manufacturing or bottling presence in Israel; that market is served exclusively through the CBC franchise.

Conflict-Driven Operational Disruption

The NBC Gaza franchise plant has faced severe operational constraints attributable to the Israeli blockade³⁸³. The broader conflict context from October 2023 onward has affected the operational environment for Palestinian-territory beverage operations, though specific current production figures for NBC were not identified in public records.

Corporate Structure & Foundational Ties

Founding & Incorporation

The Coca-Cola Company was founded in Atlanta, Georgia, USA in 1886 and is incorporated in Delaware. It is not an Israeli-founded or Israeli-origin entity. CBC was established as TCCC’s Israeli franchisee and is a separately incorporated Israeli private company — it is not a TCCC subsidiary¹³⁸.

Historical Arab Boycott and Israeli Government Recognition

The Arab League boycotted Coca-Cola from 1966 to 1991 following TCCC’s decision to grant a franchise to an Israeli operator. In 1997, the Government of Israel’s Economic Mission publicly honoured Coca-Cola for its “continued support of Israel” during the boycott period³²⁰. These are documented historical events that form a material part of the corporate relationship’s public record.

Headquarters & Domicile

• TCCC: Legal domicile Delaware; operational headquarters Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
• CBC: Headquarters Bnei Brak, Israel. Privately held by the Wertheim family; no dual headquarters.

State & Institutional Linkages

No public evidence was identified of Israeli state ownership in TCCC or CBC, government-appointed board members at TCCC, or formal designation of CBC as critical national infrastructure by the Israeli government. The Israel Competition Authority’s investigation and fining of CBC for antitrust violations (2015 probe²⁸; 2017 fines⁶⁷) indicates an arm’s-length regulatory relationship between CBC and Israeli state authorities rather than one of state protection. CBC was fined NIS 62.7 million by one account⁶ and NIS 39 million by another⁷ in related 2017 proceedings; the variance likely reflects different components of the enforcement action.

Structural Governance Features

No public evidence was identified of golden shares, founder shares, or charter mechanisms linking TCCC’s operations or mission to the Israeli state.

International Expansion via CBC

CBC’s 2019 acquisition of a stake in Clover, a South African dairy company, was documented by the SA Jewish Report as an expression of CBC’s ambitions as a regional FMCG platform extending beyond Israel²¹. This reflects CBC’s own strategic trajectory as an independent private conglomerate rather than a TCCC-directed expansion.

Profit Repatriation & Economic Contribution

Revenue Attribution

TCCC does not publicly break out Israel as a standalone revenue line in its SEC filings or annual reports. Israel falls within the broader EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa) operating segment³³. CBC, as a private company, does not publish standalone audited financial statements accessible in international public databases; Israeli-market revenue figures for CBC were not identified in public disclosures.

Direction of Financial Flows

Under the franchise model, the primary documented financial flow runs from CBC (Israel) to TCCC (USA/Atlanta) in the form of concentrate and syrup fees and brand royalties³³⁴⁰. TCCC does not inject operating capital into CBC. The Bringg 2017 Series B investment ($10 million) represents the sole documented outward capital flow from TCCC into an Israeli-domiciled company identified in this audit¹⁰¹¹; the current status of that holding is unconfirmed.

CBC’s Economic Footprint in Israel

CBC is documented as a dominant force in the Israeli food and beverage market, with its multi-category portfolio — spanning carbonated beverages (Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta), juices (Prigat), dairy (Tara), and water (Neviot) — making it one of the largest FMCG conglomerates operating in Israel¹³⁸. The CBC–Clover transaction further extends this footprint into sub-Saharan Africa²¹.

No public evidence was identified of an Israeli government report or independent industry assessment formally designating CBC as critical infrastructure or a named sector anchor in official publications.

Policy Disclosure Gaps

TCCC’s annual reporting and ESG disclosures do not contain a specific line of accounting for Israeli-market franchise revenues, Israeli tax contributions, or the economic multiplier effect of CBC’s operations³³. Reporting at this level of granularity is not standard for franchise-model beverage companies, but the absence means the magnitude of TCCC’s economic integration with the Israeli market cannot be independently quantified from public disclosures.

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