Bacardi India, a privately held spirits company, announced the appointment of Mahesh Kanchan as the company's new marketing director, Bacardi India & Neighboring Countries. 

In this role, Mahesh will spearhead marketing strategies for Bacardi’s portfolio of brands across India and surrounding markets. He will be based in Gurgaon.

With a wealth of experience in leadership roles where he drove marketing for international brands across categories in South Asia, Mahesh has joined Bacardi from Del Monte Foods India.

Before his tenure at Del Monte, he led marketing efforts in the Indian alcobev sector in his role as Vice President – Marketing & Revenue Growth Management at Carlsberg India. Preceding this, he also helped shape Hershey India’s innovation blueprint and approach to growth as Vice President – Marketing & Sales; and led multiple verticals within Sales & Marketing during his time at Unilever India as Regional Marketing Director - South Asia, driving consistent growth for brands like Kissan & Knorr (in India), Blue Band & Flora (Pakistan) and Astra, Flora & Marmite (Sri Lanka).

“Mahesh Kanchan’s strategic expertise and proven ability to drive brand growth align with Bacardi's vision for the Indian market. With India’s alcobev market continuing to grow into one of the largest globally across categories, we will look to his expertise and guidance to lead our strategic marketing in a direction that meaningfully connects and resonates with our audiences across the country,” said Vinay Golikeri, Managing Director, Bacardi India & Neighboring Countries.

“I look forward to amplifying Bacardi’s consumer-first marketing efforts to bring fresh and meaningful experiences that resonate with our audiences and drive meaningful growth to continue elevating our brand presence,” said Mahesh who holds an MBA from the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, and a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Narsee Monjee College of Commerce, Mumbai. He has also pursued a Leadership Development Program from the London Business School.