Coca-Cola restructures India & South West Asia leadership as Venkatesh Kini moves on

The Coca-Cola Company and its Bottling Investments Group (BIG) announced today new leadership appointments for its India & South West Asia Business Unit and Hindustan Coca-Cola Bottling operations.

“As outlined by our President and Chief Operating Officer James Quincey a few weeks ago, The Coca-Cola Company is designing a new Operating Model to support the next stage of our transformation into a growth-oriented, consumer-centered, total beverage company,” said John Murphy, President of the Asia Pacific Group, The Coca-Cola Company. “Key components of this new Operating Model are a revitalized organizational capability and better system alignment to ensure that optimum execution multiplies our marketing plans and investment.”

BIG’s President, Irial Finan, added: “India is the 6th largest market for The Coca-Cola Company in terms of volume. The Coca-Cola system operates approximately 60 factories, directly employs 25,000 people and sells our products through over 2.6 million retailers. Still, the Indian market has tremendous growth potential, and we believe the revitalized system leadership structure that we announce today will enable us to continue consolidating India as one of the most important growth engines for The Coca-Cola Company globally.”

In bringing this new structure to life, the following senior leadership appointments in the India and South West Asia Business Unit of The Coca-Cola Company, and Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd, will become effective May 1:

Venkatesh Kini, currently President, India and Southwest Asia Business Unit, who has capably served the company for 19 years, has decided to leave the company and return to the United States to pursue other opportunities outside the Coca-Cola system. “Over the past four years, Venkatesh has had a significant impact on the growth and success of our business in this very important market, and laid the foundation for a winning team that will enable us to continue capturing the great opportunities that remain ahead”, said Murphy. Venkatesh will remain with the Company until the end of July to ensure a smooth transition with his successor.

T KK Krishnakumar, who currently serves as CEO and South West Asia Regional Director of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Limited, will replace Kini as President of the Company’s India and South West Asia Business Unit. Murphy added, “KK is uniquely qualified for this role, having successfully led BIG’s operations in India and South West Asia since 2009. He is a strategic, well-rounded leader, and has been a catalyst for expanding our portfolio and driving growth in every position he has previously held.” KK joined the Coca-Cola system in 2004, and has advanced through a series of leadership roles including Region Manager and Regional Vice President.

Vamsi Mohan, who currently serves as BIG’s Region Director for Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia, will in turn replace KK as South West Asia Regional Director for Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. Finan said, “Vamsi joined the Coca-Cola system in 1998 and has held various senior leadership roles in Operations, Market Execution, General Management and also served as Vice President – Sales for Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd. We’re fortunate and very glad to have him back in this market.”

Christina Ruggiero, currently Chief Procurement Officer for the Coca-Cola System in North America, and President and CEO for Bottlers’ Sales & Services, LLC, will be reporting to Vamsi as the new CEO of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd. “Christina’s extensive experience aggregating and optimizing supplier and customer-related activities for the U.S. bottling franchise network will be instrumental in leading this next chapter for our bottling operations in India,” added Finan. Prior to joining Coca-Cola, Christina was Vice President, Procurement, for Diageo plc, where she led procurement and supply chain teams globally, including teams in the United States, Africa, Europe, and Russia.

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