Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages CEO says the company learns a lot from rural India

BENGALURU: As a young girl she wanted to be an astronaut. It remains a dream, but she has travelled all around the world, if not space. Having worked in 55 countries, she claims to have assimilated with Indian culture in the last three months, travelling to 40 cities and rural areas in 20 of 29 states.

“I am very good at maths and I wanted to be an astronaut, it is helping me in what I am doing now,” says Christina Ruggiero, CEO, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd.

She started her career in the US Navy, where she was a code breaker (cryptologist) for the National Security Agency.

HCCB is one of India’s top 10 fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies and the manufacturing arm of The Coca-Cola Company in India. While HCCB has traditionally focused on sparkling (carbonated beverages) and juices, it is now investing on infrastructure for flavoured milk, mineral fortified hydration products, fruit-based products and traditional Indian drinks like jaljeera-flavoured RimZim.

A few months ago, the Coca-Cola management in the US decided to relocate the HCCB corporate headquarters to Bengaluru to better focus on its south India business. An estimated 40 per cent of the firm’s volume comes from the four southern states.

The company already employs over 8,000 people directly and operates 21 factories. Dressing and eating locally is important to Ruggiero as it helps assimilate and understand the work culture. “If I dress and eat like an American living in Bengaluru, I will fail.” 

HCCB is one of largest institutional buyers of agricultural produce and fruit pulp — worth more than Rs 2,000 crore — benefiting 250,000 farmers. In the next five years, HCCB, along with the 13 other franchise bottlers of The Coca-Cola Company, plan to spend Rs 5,200 crore towards procuring processed fruit pulp and fruit concentrate, and promote horticulture in India. 

This, she says, will have a direct positive impact on more than 5 lakh farmers. “Rural India teaches a lot and in that teaching we are learning, how to accelerate faster than others (the competitors),” says Ruggiero. 

The mother of two boys aged 11 and 6 — she is married to a sportsman — she has opened up HCCB’s offices to families. She wants young girls to dream big, have patience and keep trying. “As a woman, I want every woman to get the right education. The potential is enormous to reach the top in India, even as a wife, mother, sister and daughter,” she says.

Expansion is on top of her agenda as the company’s CEO. A greenfield project has been planned in Sanand, Gujarat at an investment of Rs 450 crore. 

“The Sanand factory will be the only unit to have 40 per cent women labour; they have been hired and are under training now,” says Ruggiero. This will be the firm’s second plant in the state after the one in Goblej.

She is also optimistic that the current slowdown in Indian economy will rebound, earlier than expected.

“Fixing the basics is what the current Indian government is doing and that is what we do in Coca-Cola, which gives me confidence, that the Indian economy will see real growth soon,” concludes Ruggiero.