INDIA – Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB), the bottling partner of Coca-Cola India has appointed Neeraj Garg as the new Chief Executive Officer of the company effective January 1.

Garg is currently the president of the West Africa business unit of The Coca-Cola Company, based in Lagos, Nigeria.

He will be taking over from Christina Ruggiero, the first women CEO of HCCB.

Ending her three-year stint at the company she has been appointed as the President of Central Operations, North America Operating Unit, The Coca-Cola Company, reports Business Line.

“Christina has helped build a solid foundation for HCCB as one of the premier FMCG organisations in the country. Neeraj takes over from here, coming in with extensive FMCG experience,” said Marcelo Boffi, President, Bottling Investments Group, The Coca-Cola Company.

“Since Neeraj has worked across global markets, HCCB will find his insights and expertise extremely useful in unlocking the next phase of growth for HCCB in India,” he added.

Garg joined Coca-Cola in India in 1994 and went on to hold a variety of leadership roles both with the company and its Bottling Investments Group (BIG).

Prior to joining Coca-Cola, he worked with Procter & Gamble India for six years in several roles.

He holds an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies at the University of Delhi and a mechanical engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University.

“Christina has helped build a solid foundation for HCCB as one of the premier FMCG organisations in the country. Neeraj takes over from here, coming in with extensive FMCG experience.”

Marcelo Boffi – President, Bottling Investments Group, The Coca-Cola Company

Changes at Coca-Cola India, South West Asia operations

The current appointment is part of the beverage giant’s on ongoing global corporate restructuring aimed at unlocking its next phase of growth.

In September, the company named Sanket Ray as the new President of India and South West Asia operations.

He replaces T Krishnakumar, who has been named the Chairman of Coca-Cola India.

To report to Ray, Coca-Cola has appointed Arnab Roy, as the new Vice-President, Marketing for the India and South West Asia operations, currently working as director sparkling brands.

He will succeed Vijay Parasuraman, who is moving to lead the global Integrated Marketing Experience division of the company.

Meanwhile, Samarapperuma Padmal has been named the new head of strategy, while Harsh Bhutani will lead the finance team.

Nishi Kulshreshtha Chaturvedi has been made the head of human resources, and Amit Tibrewal will be heading business transformation functions in India and South West Asia.

Greishma Singh, Director – Strategy and Insights at Coca-Cola South Pacific, will now be heading customer and commercial leadership functions in India.

Enrique Ackermann, the current Technical Operations Director at the Coca-Cola’s Latin Center Business Unit, will lead the technical and innovation functions at Coca-Cola India and South West Asia.

Sundeep Bajoria, Vice-President, South West Asia Operations has been appointed as the head of franchise operations in India, while Reetima Rakyan will lead franchise operations in South West Asia.

The Coca-Cola Company global restructuring

As part of The Coca-Cola Company ongoing project of creating an organisation that is highly networked, less hierarchical and future-facing, it is seeking to create nine new operating units focused on regional and local execution.

The company will create nine new operating units focused on regional and local execution.

Coca-Cola’s current model includes 17 business units that sit under four geographical segments, plus Global Ventures and Bottling Investments.

Moving forward, the operational side of the business will consist of the new nine operating units that will sit under four geographical segments, along with Global Ventures and Bottling Investments.

The company’s operating leaders will report to President and Chief Operating Officer Brian Smith.

This structure will be supported by the company’s newly created Platform Services organization, which will provide global services and enhanced expertise across a range of critical capabilities.

The Services will be led by Senior Vice President and Chief Information and Integrated Services Officer Barry Simpson.

Coca-Cola has further indicated that the units will work with five new marketing ‘category leads’ in an attempt to drive growth across global, regional and local brands.

These five ‘category leads’ will be: the Coca-Cola brand; Sparkling Flavors; Hydration, Sports, Coffee and Tea; Nutrition, Juice, Milk and Plant; Emerging Categories.

The leaders of these categories will work across the networked organization to build the company’s brand portfolio and win in the marketplace. Global category leads will report to Chief Marketing Officer Manolo Arroyo.

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