Krishnakumar named Coca-Cola India chairman in major overhaul

The appointments follow the company’s broader reorganization, first announced on 28 August. Its 17 business units were then replaced with nine larger operating units. This will become effective on 1 January 2021, subject to consultation where required under local laws.

These changes will help eliminate duplication of resources and enhance the company’s ability to scale new products more quickly, the company said in its release on Thursday.

Last week the company also announced voluntary job cuts for close to 4,000 workers in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

Krishnakumar “will be responsible for building and strengthening critical local partnerships in India, supporting the new operating unit leadership team", the company said in release on Thursday.

Ray was previously chief executive officer at Coca-Cola Beverages Vietnam Ltd. He also worked with the company’s owned bottling unit in India, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB).

In India, the company works with several large bottlers apart from HCCB.

Last year, the company announced that it would sell its bottling operations in four territories in north India to its existing bottlers as part of efforts to streamline business and create regional scale in north India.

In all, Coca-Cola works with 14 bottlers in India and has more than 50 manufacturing units in the country from where it bottles popular beverages such as Coke, Thums-Up, Sprite, Fanta, and Minute Maid.