You can almost never go wrong by investing in top consumer brands that sell affordable products in high volume. The following companies may not outperform other growth stocks, but as a shareholder, you can feel confident knowing that tens of millions of people are consuming their products year-round. And the high margins they generate from sales fund generous dividend payments to their shareholders.

1. Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola (KO 0.48%) is the world's leading beverage company. Every day, the people of the world consume more than 2.2 billion servings of its products. With dozens of different brands, the company generates healthy margins that have fueled growing dividend payments for many years and will continue to do so.

Coca-Cola has been around since 1886, so it has a long track record showing it can navigate through varying economic conditions, including periods of high inflation or weak consumer spending. It's not a high-growth business at this point -- its revenue has only grown by about 6% over the last decade.   Still, the stock can deliver returns close to the market averages over time.

The non-alcoholic beverage market is worth $1.6 trillion, according to Statista. Coke has a strong distribution network that positions it well to capture opportunities in emerging markets. The company also benefits from its large portfolio of brands across the water (Dasani), tea (Fuze), coffee (Costa), and energy drink (Powerade) categories, so it can serve a wide range of consumer preferences.

Coca-Cola still sees areas where it can drive higher sales through impulse purchases. Coke products are available in 33 million outlets worldwide, which speaks to the brand's ubiquity. It added nearly 600,000 coolers to its system last year, where management sees cold consumption as one of the biggest opportunities to grow sales.

The stock is up 14% year to date, but its dividend yield of 2.7% suggests investors are still getting solid value that should set up solid long-term total returns.

2. McDonald's

McDonald's (MCD -0.52%) is another strong brand that has delivered solid returns for decades to investors. It has more than 43,000 locations worldwide, with local managers footing the bills for expenses through the company's franchise model. This provides the company with high margins and powers dividend growth for shareholders.

Weak consumer spending trends made 2024 a challenging year for the fast-food giant. Global comparable sales fell 0.1%, but McDonald's focus on offering more value to customers is helping the brand stay competitive in a crowded quick-service restaurant industry. The company is on track to grow its restaurant base to 50,000 by 2027, which should lead to higher sales and earnings.

McDonald's has had success with its digital ordering experience. It is aiming to grow its 90-day active customer base from 170 million to 250 million over the next three years. McDonald's generated $30 billion in systemwide sales from members of its loyalty program last year -- 23% of total sales. By 2027, the company hopes to grow that figure to $45 billion.

It's a lot easier to produce solid financial results when you have hundreds of millions of customers making repeat purchases. Over the last year, McDonald's generated $8.2 billion of net income on $25.9 billion of revenue. That revenue was generated from a small base of company-operated stores, plus fees from franchise owners. The company paid $4.8 billion of that net income in dividends to shareholders.

The stock offers an above-average dividend yield of 2.2% and trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 25 -- a discount to the S&P 500's average P/E of 30. Investing in McDonald's won't make you rich overnight, but you can expect the stock to deliver solid returns on par with the S&P 500 over the long term.