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New Coke leadership in India, S West Asia
MUMBAI: 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 The Coca-Cola Company president of the Asia-Pacific Group John Murphy, “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 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 John 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 the CEO and South West Asia Regional Director of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Limited, will replace Venkatesh as the 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 the 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 the 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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Reliance Retail FY26 revenue rises 11.8 Per Cent to Rs 3.7 lakh crore
Q4 revenue up 11.1 Per Cent, hyperlocal orders surge 4x, PAT steady
MUMBAI: Reliance Retail isn’t just ringing up sales, it’s ringing doorbells faster than ever. Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) reported a steady FY26 performance, with growth powered by store expansion, a sharp surge in hyperlocal commerce, and consistent traction across grocery, fashion and jewellery. For the full year, revenue rose 11.8 per cent year-on-year to Rs 3,70,026 crore. In the January–March quarter, revenue from operations climbed 11.1 per cent to Rs 87,344 crore, up from Rs 78,622 crore a year earlier.
Operating performance remained stable, with Q4 EBITDA inching up 3.1 per cent YoY to Rs 6,921 crore from Rs 6,711 crore. However, quarterly profit after tax held steady at Rs 3,563 crore. For the full fiscal, PAT grew 11.7 per cent to Rs 13,842 crore.
Expansion remained a key lever. RRVL added 1,564 new stores during FY26, while simultaneously scaling its digital and hyperlocal commerce play. The latter emerged as a standout, with daily orders surging more than fourfold year-on-year in Q4, underlining a clear shift towards faster, localised fulfilment.
In grocery, large-format stores maintained momentum, aided by festive demand and the expansion of Smart Bazaar, which crossed 1,000 stores. Promotional campaigns such as ‘Full Paisa Vasool’ delivered record results, with sales rising 26 per cent YoY.
Digital commerce also picked up pace. JioMart added 5.8 million new users in Q4, nearly doubling its registered base year-on-year. Hyperlocal orders grew 29 per cent sequentially and over 300 per cent annually during the quarter.
Fashion and lifestyle saw steady traction. Ajio recorded a 23 per cent YoY rise in average bill value, while fast-fashion platform Shein crossed 11 million app installs, scaling rapidly with expanding product lines.
The jewellery business added further shine, with average bill value jumping 53 per cent YoY, largely driven by rising gold prices and sustained consumer demand.
Commenting on the shift, RRVL executive director Isha Ambani said hyperlocal commerce has become a structural growth driver, with orders rising more than fourfold over the year.
Looking ahead to FY27, the company is betting on technology to deepen engagement. The focus, Ambani noted, will be on AI-led merchandising, sharper pricing strategies and disciplined execution turning scale into sustained customer value.
In short, the carts are fuller, the clicks are quicker, and the next phase looks less about reach and more about precision.
