Despite a difficult operating environment in developed countries and nagging volatility in emerging ones, the company had a solid run last year delivering positive earnings and revenue surprises in all the three quarters of 2014 reported so far. Better top-line expectations coupled with cost of goods sold deflation and a slightly lower tax rate should lead to improved earnings in 2015, as it finds a spot in our list of beverage stocks worth a watch this year. A handful of beverage companies outperformed expectations in the first half of 2014.