Coca-Cola is showing support for France by moving its first board meeting of 2016 to Paris.
The idea is to show support for the city in the aftermath of the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks that killed 130 people, the Atlanta company said.
“We can confirm that The Coca-Cola Company has moved its first Board of Directors meeting of 2016 to Paris as a show of solidarity,” the company said Wednesday in a statement. “All of us at Coca-Cola extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to those impacted by the recent tragic events.”
The 15-member board traditionally meets in Atlanta five times a year, including its annual meeting in April, spokesman Kent Landers said. The Paris meeting will be in February, though the company has not yet announced a date.
It will mark the first time the beverage giant has held a board meeting in the French capital since 1991.
Coke, the world’s biggest distributor of non-alcoholic beverages, has a footprint in every country around the globe except North Korea and Cuba. Coke and its European bottler Coca-Cola Enterprises employ about 2,700 workers in France.
After years of struggling sales because of a recession, volume in Europe grew in the third quarter of this year, in both soft drinks and still beverages like waters, teas and juices. But currency fluctuations because of the strong dollar has hurt overall earnings, with revenue down 7 percent.
Landers declined to say whether the company plans to heighten security for the meeting.
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