The Coca-Cola Company (KO), which I first wrote about on February 20, 2009 at a price of $42.68, is one of those plays that you can keep for generations.

Look for 6-8% revenue with Coke in 2010, propelled higher by international sales, and strong growth in non-carbonated beverages. Efficiency improvements, moderating commodity costs, and quicker-recovering emerging markets round out the story of Coke surviving yet another recession, and then some.

Coca-Cola's (NYSE: KO) $4.1B purchase of Glaceau, a producer of vitamin-enhanced water, may be just the right 'tonic' to propel it shares to a new 52-week high.

In recent years, the iconic U.S. company has had to confront a triple threat, of sorts: the need to lower costs, fend off relentless competition from rival PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), and address a secular trend away from carbonated beverages and toward non-carbonated and more nutrition-oriented drinks.

Coke had fallen behind its major competitor -- as well as several niche drink companies -- regarding the incorporation of newer-category drinks that appeal to a more-health conscious clientele. That fact, combined with an above-average cost structure, weighed on KO's performance, and Wall Street did not respond favorably: the stock dropped below $40 in the second half of 2004.

But now Coke's acquisition of Glaceau and its flagship Vitamin Water provides another solid data point for Wall Street that Coke is making the transition to the non-carbonated drink era.

Investment Category: Coca Cola is a moderate-risk stock not suitable for low-risk investors. Coke has the distribution network and products to produce impressive results, but costs must be contained moving forward for the stock to shine.

More Vitamin Water news

Beth Gaston Moon: High school vending machines getting more eclectic
Zac Bissonnette: PepsiCo plans a lower-calorie Gatorade
Jonathan Berr: Coke, Pepsi thirst for profits from bottled water
Zac Bissonnette: Experts doubt Snapple will satisfy Coke
Zac Bissonnette: Will Coca-Cola gulp down Snapple?
Zac Bissonnette: Coke swallows Vitaminwater
Zac Bissonnette: Coke wants vitamin water
Zac Bissonnette: Coke Zero is no zero, it's a big hit
Sarah Gilbert: Fuze acquisition pits Coke v. Pepsi in ritzy juice war

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.

Some people drink Pepsi, some people drink Coke,
The wacky morning DJ says democracy's a joke.
-- Cake, Comfort Eagle

Unless you are a rare RC Cola drinker, your carbonated beverage decision in the supermarket comes down to the two heavyweights: the flagship products from the Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo Inc (NYSE: PEP). But the battle between these brands spans much further than the supermarket shelves. From which brand restaurants stock, to what countries each operates in, this rivalry is all-encompassing and global. But instead of a list of countries or restaurant chains, lets take a deeper look at the actual products.

Cola and Beyond

We don't have space to list, nor would you have time to read, every different variant of Coca-Cola and Pepsi, which would force me to include failed ideas such as Crystal Pepsi. Suffice it to say, you won't find many original ideas here, and when a successful idea comes from either company, an imitator just as quickly appears from the other. Coke/Pepsi, Diet Coke/Diet Pepsi, Cherry Coke/Wild Cherry Pepsi, Coke with Lime/Pepsi Lime, Coke Zero/Pepsi One, Coca-Cola Blak/Pepsi Cappuccino. Had enough yet? Because that was just a list of comparable colas. Both companies also make lemon-lime sodas, orange sodas, and other similar carbonated and noncarbonated beverages. So then what differentiates them? Certainly not their product arsenal, but taste and marketing.