Sales of Coca-Cola’s fizzy drinks in Europe fall dramatically for the first time in 15 years.
Although the global volume of carbonated drinks sold dropped by 1%, sales in Europe were down by 5%.
The news for Coca-Cola from Great Britain was worse, as sales were down by more than 10%. Those who did buy Coca-Cola found the bottle size shrank, although prices stayed the same.
Noncarbonated drinks, such as Powerade, helped the company when global sales rose by 2%.
Fizzy - or carbonated drinks - account for 75% of all drinks sold outside the US.
Much publicity of late has focussed on the suggested link between drinks with a high sugar content and obesity, putting the frighteners on fizzy drinks manufacturers.
But at the same time, demand for still drinks, including juices, ready-to-drink teas, sports drinks and energy drinks, is growing more quickly.
To counteract the fall in sales, Coca-Cola said it would increase its global marketing budget this year by $400m to more than $4bn - an increase of more than 10%.
It may be too early for the violins as the company’s net income for the first quarter of the year fell to $1.63bn, (£970m) compared with $1.77bn for the same period a year ago.
