By Muhtar Kent
The stress we're now seeing in the global food supply chain is cause for concern and for new innovative thinking. Over the past several weeks, I have traveled to China, Russia, Japan, the U.S. and Europe. Everywhere I go, few issues command more attention... or carry more weight... than concerns over food shortages and the rising cost of life's basic necessities.

Last month, we met with UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon who said it will take $15 billion to $20 billion dollars a year in new investments and innovations in agriculture and food technologies to offset the current crisis.

The growth and sustainability of the global food industry are essential to feeding the world, providing jobs and livelihoods, and protecting our natural resources and environments.

The theme of CIES World Food Business Summit is timelier and there could be nothing more appropriate as backdrop for this year's discussions than "Growth and Sustainability."

No part of the world is more emblematic of the sustainability movement than Germany. Earlier today, you heard about Germany's green consumers... and yesterday Chancellor Merkel reinforced her nation's commitment to a green and sustainable future.

A sustainable future is not possible without sustainable leaders and leadership.Today, I was asked to share some insights about "the next generation of sustainable leadership... and how it can make a real difference."

Specifically, I'm going to frame my remarks around the responsibilities and demands facing the next generation of global food and beverage industry leaders.

What do we expect from them? What do they expect from us?
I'm also going to talk about the need to adapt our business models to serve not only the most affluent markets through the most progressive outlets... but also the most under-served consumers in the most underprivileged regions of the world.

Many of these consumers will be rising to the middle class in the coming decades and they will take their brand loyalties with them.

Engaging this important -- and overlooked -- consumer bloc will be essential to sustaining global market leadership in the future.

Sustainable leadership will also require us to build cultures of sustainability within our companies.

So, let's start with the responsibilities and demands facing the next generation of leaders.
Tomorrow's leaders will need to be prepared to manage in an environment where the balance of global economic power is shifting dramatically.

Several new realities are emerging... and I refer to them collectively as the "New Equilibrium." They include:

Rising oil prices
Rising food prices
Growing middle class consumption
And rapid, rapid urbanization.

For the present and future leadership of the food and beverage industry, the implications of the New Equilibrium are profound.

Most experts believe the price of oil is no longer spiking. It's simply rising as global demand increases and oil deposits become harder to access.

The world is now paying about $5 billion more a day for crude oil than just five years ago.

This is fueling one of the largest transfers of wealth in history.It's now estimated that oil-rich nations have a $4 trillion-dollar cache of petrodollar investments around the world. That figure could increase rapidly in the months ahead.

Perhaps the most telling and recent example of this shifting influence and wealth is the fact that the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is now one of the largest shareholders in Citigroup. Singapore's GIC now owns a $15 billion dollar stake in UBS.

Another example of this shifting influence is how more and more motorists in the U.S. and Europe are now refueling their cars at Lukoil gas stations. Unthinkable a few years back.

Of course, oil booms and busts are not exactly uncommon. What is different now, however, is that we're seeing solid, gradual gains as opposed to sudden peaks and valleys.

This is also producing some unintended and far-reaching consequences, which is the second component of this shifting landscape.

The surge in production of bio-fuels like ethanol is partly responsible for rising food prices around the world. You just heard a great debate about this and you're fully aware of the causes.

So here we are with higher energy costs... and higher food costs.

Now... factor in the sustained increase in demand for food and energy that's being prompted by rising living standards in emerging nations.

So, the third major shift we're seeing is the growing global middle class. In fact, by 2015, some 700 million new consumers will be ascending to the middle class. Most of them will be found in emerging nations.

That's two markets the size of the United States added to the world economy in less than a decade!

These new middle class consumers strive for the same things we want out of life -- including better quality food and beverages.

And like their counterparts in the developed world, most of these middle class consumers will reside in urban areas.

Urbanization is the fourth component of the New Equilibrium.

For the first-time in history, the majority of the world's population is now living in urban areas.
The urbanization trend is just beginning.
For the next decade, 65 million people annually will migrate to urban centers. That's roughly the equivalent of adding a city the size of London to our planet every 80 days.

Clearly, what you see here with these four global shifts are significant challenges and opportunities that impact the sustainability of our industries... and our planet.

Cost pressures... infrastructure pressures... distribution challenges... cultural challenges... training and development challenges -- the list goes on.

For all of us, it's going to require shifts in thinking... shifts in behavior... indeed, shifts in our world view.

How well our future leaders understand these new realities... accept them... and prepare for them... will determine our success in the coming years.

That's also one of the reasons we at The Coca-Cola Company are proud to support and participate in the Future Leaders Program here at CIES. The more we can do -- together -- as an industry to develop leadership will only strengthen the sustainability of the food and beverage businesses.

Over the past few months, I've given several speeches on college campuses and to executive education groups.

Every single group asks the same question: "What leadership qualities are we looking for in today's rising managers?"

More than ever, we're looking for future leaders who possess a world view. We need people who can move seamlessly across borders and cultures and who feel as comfortable working in Mumbai as they do in Munich.

With 20 million customer outlets around the world, we need people who can speak the language of sophisticated modern trade.
At the same time we need people who are flexible enough to understand the pressures and local cultural nuances associated with being a sole proprietor of a small street-corner bodega or kiosk.

I can't think of more appropriate industries to lead the charge in the global sustainability movement than the food and beverage businesses.

We provide the world with sustenance, comfort and happiness. The world needs our leadership -- and indeed expects our leadership. Truly, there's no better business to be in than ours... and no greater responsibility to bear than leading the world down the path of sustainable growth and progress.

(Muhtar Kent, is President and CEO of Coca-Cola Company. Excerpted from speech made at CIES World Food Summit at Munich, Germany)