Commitments and Contingencies
Manufacturing Cooperatives

The Company is obligated to purchase at least 80% of its requirements of plastic bottles for certain designated territories from Southeastern. The Company is also obligated to purchase 17.5 million cases of finished product from SAC on an annual basis through June 2024. The Company purchased 25.3 million cases, 26.9 million cases and 28.0 million cases of finished product from SAC in 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
The following table summarizes the Company’s purchases from these manufacturing cooperatives:

 Fiscal Year
(in thousands)202320222021
Purchases from Southeastern$146,898 $153,967 $125,142 
Purchases from SAC200,239 193,261 169,399 
Total purchases from manufacturing cooperatives$347,137 $347,228 $294,541 

The Company guarantees a portion of SAC’s debt, which expires in 2028. The amount guaranteed was $9.5 million on both December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022. In the event SAC fails to fulfill its commitments under the related debt, the Company would be responsible for payment to the lenders up to the level of the guarantee. The Company does not anticipate SAC will fail to fulfill its commitments related to the debt. The Company further believes SAC has sufficient assets, including production equipment, facilities and working capital, and the ability to adjust the selling prices of its products to adequately mitigate the risk of material loss relating to the Company’s guarantee.

The Company holds no assets as collateral against the SAC guarantee, the fair value of which is immaterial to the consolidated financial statements. The Company monitors its investment in SAC and would be required to write down its investment if an impairment, other than a temporary impairment, was identified. No impairment of the Company’s investment in SAC was identified as of December 31, 2023, and there was no impairment identified in 2023, 2022 or 2021.

Other Commitments and Contingencies

The Company has standby letters of credit, primarily related to its property and casualty insurance programs. These letters of credit totaled $37.6 million on both December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022.

The Company participates in long-term marketing contractual arrangements with certain prestige properties, athletic venues and other locations. As of December 31, 2023, the future payments related to these contractual arrangements, which expire at various dates through 2033, amounted to $130.5 million.

The Company is involved in various claims and legal proceedings which have arisen in the ordinary course of its business. Although it is difficult to predict the ultimate outcome of these claims and legal proceedings, management believes the ultimate disposition of these matters will not have a material adverse effect on the financial condition, results of operations or cash flows of the Company. No material amount of loss in excess of recorded amounts is believed to be reasonably possible as a result of these claims and legal proceedings.

The Company is subject to audits by tax authorities in jurisdictions where it conducts business. These audits may result in assessments that are subsequently resolved with the authorities or potentially through the courts. Management believes the Company has adequately provided for any assessments likely to result from these audits; however, final assessments, if any, could be different than the amounts recorded in the consolidated financial statements.
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Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2023Feb 21, 2024Showing above
2022Feb 22, 2023
2021Feb 22, 2022
2020Feb 26, 2021
2019Feb 25, 2020
2018Feb 27, 2019
2017Mar 14, 2017
2016Mar 18, 2016

About Commitments Disclosures

Commitments and contingencies disclosures catalog a company's off-balance-sheet obligations and legal exposures — purchase commitments, guarantee arrangements, pending litigation, and regulatory proceedings. These items represent potential future cash outflows that may not appear as liabilities on the balance sheet until they become probable and estimable.

Key signals: litigation reserves and disclosed loss ranges quantify management's estimate of legal exposure, but unquantified "reasonably possible" losses often represent the larger risk. Watch for changes in language around pending cases — shifts from "remote" to "reasonably possible" or increases in estimated loss ranges signal deteriorating outcomes. Unconditional purchase obligations and take-or-pay contracts create fixed cost structures that reduce operational flexibility. Guarantee arrangements for subsidiaries or joint ventures can create cascading obligations. Compare the total commitment schedule against projected free cash flow to assess whether the company can meet its obligations without additional financing.