QuestionerFrom improvements in scientific research, we as a society have become increasingly attuned to the true cost of greater sugar consumption in the form of rising health care costs. Have we reached an inflection point in human behavior in how consumers view sugar consumption? And do you think Coca-Cola's moat and potentially that of hines or crafts is narrowing?
WarrenIt's an enormously wide moat, but I think it's also true that the trends you described are happening. But, you know, there will be 1.9 billion eight-ounce servings of Coca-Cola products, not Coca-Cola, but Coca-Cola products consumed in the world today. And I don't think you're going to see anything revolutionary, and I think you will see all food and beverage companies adjust to the, to the, to the, expressed preferences of the consumers as they go along. No company ever does well ignoring its consumers. But there will be, I would predict 20 years from now, there will be more people, there will be more Coca-Cola cases consumed than there are now by some margin. 30s, Fortune ran an article saying that the growth of Coca-Cola was all over. And when we bought our Coca-Cola stock in 1988, you know, people were not that enthused about gross possibilities for the product. I sit here as somebody who, in the last 30 years, one quarter of all the calories I've consumed come from Coca-Cola. And that is not an exaggeration. I am one-quarter Coca-Cola. I'm not sure which quarter. quarter. It's remarkable how durable items are in this field. We, Berkshire Hathaway, I believe, was the largest shareholder of general foods from about 1981 or thereabouts to about 1984 when I was bought by Philip Morris. And, you know, that's 30-plus years ago. And those same, those same brands, uh, they're about, that's about 19804 when it was bought by Philip Morris. You know, they went through Philip Morris, they got spun out of kraft, they broke kraft into two pieces. But now we're going to own those brands, and they are, they're terrific brands. But, you know, Heinz, Hines goes back to 1869. The ketchup came out a little later. They went bankrupt, actually, when they were counting on the horseradish or whatever it was. But the ketchup came out in the 1870s, and Coca-Cola dates to 1886. And it's a pretty good bet that an awful lot of people are going to like the same thing. And when I compare drinking Coca-Cola, you know, to something that somebody would sell me at Whole Foods, uh, I don't know, I don't see smiles on the faces of people at Whole Foods. So I like the brands we're buying, Andrew.