ASIA – The leading beverage company, Coca-Cola India has announced changes to its leadership structure with the appointment of Sundeep Bajoria as new Vice-President – South West Asia (SWA) Operations and Chandrasekar Radhakrishnan as vice president – strategy and insights, Coca-Cola India & South West Asia.

The company said the changes were critical and in line with developing business needs and investment in talent development.

The new structure is not only designed to capitalize on emerging opportunities but also marks India & South West Asia business as growth engine for The Coca-Cola Company.

“We believe there are significant opportunities that lie ahead of us to grow our portfolio and meaningfully penetrate the market.

These changes will address developing business needs and pave the way to develop a stronger portfolio for the future. It also reinforces our commitment towards investing in talent development,” said T. Krishnakumar, President, Coca-Cola India & South West Asia.

Sundeep served as Vice President Strategy and Insights and now is mandated to enhance expansion of the regional footprint as well as lead the entire South West Asia region.

His other duties include working towards making the region an innovation and growth engine for the India & South West Asia business and the Coca-Cola system.

Sundeep brings 20-year experience outside and within the Coca-Cola system where his 14-year expertise involved various roles in different Group businesses and Bottling Investment Groups.

Chandrasekar, on the other hand will take charge of the strategic initiatives for the company to accelerate the pace of innovation and assess opportunities to offer a much broader and deeper portfolio of beverages for the consumers.

He joins Coca-Cola from Nestle where he was responsible for optimizing worldwide marketing efficiencies and also as Head of Consumer Communication and eCommerce.

Coca-Cola India made such similar changes to its senior leadership team in December 2016 both in the human resources and business transformation capabilities.

Earlier this year, the beverage major said it plans to launch over 10 new products in India this year through its incubator which uses insights based on consumer feedback.

These include products in the dairy segment in addition to planned roll out of a nutrition drink in the country.