HCCB names new leaders for supply chain, commercial, HR and strategy roles

Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB) has announced a set of senior leadership appointments across supply chain, commercial operations, human resources and strategy, as the company moves to strengthen execution capability amid a challenging consumer environment.

The Coca-Cola bottler has named Avinash Kant Kumar as Head of Integrated Supply Chain, Vinay Nair as Chief Commercial Officer, Ritesh Pratap Singh as Chief Human Resources Officer, Sunaina Dhanuka as Head of Strategy, and Girish Sivaraman as Vice President – Commercial Transformation.

The appointments come as FMCG companies recalibrate leadership depth to manage cost pressures, supply chain volatility and evolving go-to-market demands, even as consumption growth remains uneven across categories.

Commenting on the changes, Hemant Rupani, Chief Executive Officer of HCCB, said the appointments were aimed at building stronger execution capability across critical functions. He said the company was focused on deepening organisational capability, strengthening rigour across the value chain and enabling scale as it enters its next phase of growth.

Singh joins HCCB as Chief Human Resources Officer and will lead the company’s people and culture agenda, with a focus on leadership development, organisational effectiveness and high-performance systems. He moves from Tata Projects, where he served as CHRO, and has previously held senior roles at Tata Trusts and IHCL (Taj Hotels). The appointment also marks Singh’s return to HCCB after earlier stints in national and regional HR leadership roles.

Kumar, appointed Head of Integrated Supply Chain, brings more than three decades of experience across supply chain, procurement and operations. He joins from Jubilant Foodworks, where he was President, and has previously held leadership roles at McCain Foods, Reliance Retail, Al Foah and Procter & Gamble. At HCCB, he will oversee supply chain operations with a focus on resilience, efficiency and scalability.

Nair, as Chief Commercial Officer, will be responsible for driving commercial strategy, strengthening execution discipline and accelerating growth across channels and markets, as competition intensifies across India’s non-alcoholic beverage segment.

Dhanuka has been elevated to Head of Strategy in addition to her current role as Chief of Staff to the CEO. She will lead the company’s growth and transformation agenda, drawing on prior experience across the Coca-Cola system in ASEAN and South Pacific markets, as well as earlier roles at Unilever, Macquarie, Morgan Stanley and Arthur Andersen.

Sivaraman has been appointed Vice President – Commercial Transformation, where he will spearhead initiatives focused on go-to-market excellence, sales effectiveness and capability building. His appointment marks a return to HCCB, following earlier stints with the company and senior leadership roles at Mondelez International, Pepsi, Varun Beverages, Britannia and Vodafone.

HCCB said the expanded leadership bench would play a central role in driving execution excellence and organisational resilience as the company navigates a dynamic operating environment. The moves signal a renewed emphasis on leadership depth as FMCG players balance near-term performance pressures with longer-term value creation.