Coca-Cola appoints Nahar Choudhury as first Bangladeshi MD

Published : Monday, 22 January, 2024 at 3:05 PM Count : 802

Coca-Cola appoints Nahar Choudhury as first Bangladeshi MD

Coca-Cola, one of the country's leading beverage companies, has announced Ju-un Nahar Choudhury as the new Managing Director of Coca-Cola Bangladesh Limited.

She is the first Bangladeshi to take on the role of Managing Director for this fortune 500 company.

In this role,Choudhurywill work closely with bottling and business partners, customers and other external stakeholders in the country, reports UNB.

She started her career with Unilever as a management trainee in marketing, and left her mark in various roles including leading the team who won a Guinness world record for the nationwide 'Lifebuoy handwashing washing campaign' covering 86,000 youth simultaneously in over 60 locations, said the comps on Monday.

She moved to Indonesia in 2014 withReckitt Benckiserlooking after the Dettol business. She also worked with Danone Indonesia as Head of Innovation and then joined aCommerce, an end-to-end ecommerce enabler present across seven ASEAN countries, as the FMCG director.

After spending eight years in Indonesia, Choudhury moved back to Bangladesh and joined Apex as marketing director in 2023.

Speaking on her appointment, Ju-un Nahar Choudhury, Managing Director, Coca-Cola Bangladesh said, "I am delighted to join the Coca-Cola system and partner with our bottling partners, Coca-Cola Bangladesh Beverages (CCBB) & Abdul Monem Limited (AML), and other stakeholders to refresh our consumers in Bangladesh."

She also said, "I am humbled to lead Bangladesh on this Coca-Cola journey and I am committed to steer our brands and franchise operations to new heights."

Choudhuryis the first woman to be appointed to this position in Bangladesh and will be replacing former Managing Director, Ta Duy Tung, who was appointed back in 2021.

Ajay Vijay Bathija, Vice President of Franchise Operations for Southwest Asia (SWA), said, "We welcome Ju-un to Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company reiterates its focus on building a sustainable business in an important market like Bangladesh. Ju-un joins at an exciting time of the company's journey in the country and our partners will gain a great deal from her wide experience in FMCG and e-commerce."

Coca-Cola is the first company in Bangladesh to launch 100% recycled PET bottles in Bangladesh. Coke Studio Bangla, as a digital music platform, boastsa YouTube channel with 2.86 million+ subscribers, surpassing the combined subscriber count of some of Bangladesh's biggest brands.

As per a socio-economic impact study, the Coca-Cola system in Bangladesh contributes to the continuous economic growth of the country and also supports nearly 22,100 jobs which consist of 833 direct jobs and 21,300 indirect jobs.