Coca-Cola India has recently appointed Ricardo Fort as Vice President - Marketing, for its India & South West Asia operations. Fort joins from Coca-Cola Brazil, where he was Marketing Director, and was responsible for a portfolio of brands accounting for over 50 per cent of the Brazilian soft drinks market.

Fort had joined The Coca-Cola Company in August 1998 as Senior Brand Manager for Sprite. In this assignment, he was responsible for re-launching Sprite and delivering share and volume growth. He then moved as the Coca-Cola Group Brand Manager in April 2000 and managed the Coca-Cola brand, including strategy and execution of all brand plans.

This was followed by an assignment as Director for Global Football Marketing, where he led a multi-functional/ country team on the development and implementation of one of the largest activation at The Coca-Cola Company – the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In Brazil, Fort launched the Coke Side of Life campaign driving teen recruitment and growing brand love at record high levels. He also launched Coca-Cola Zero delivering incremental volume and profit, making Brazil the No. 1 country for the brand globally.

Fort began his career with Unilever in January 1994 as Brand Manager. He then moved to Kellogg’s as Senior Brand Manager in November 1995, where he managed the market-leading brand (Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes) with significant weight in company’s sales and investment.

Fort has a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and an MBA in Marketing. He has over 16 years’ marketing experience in managing leading global brands in Brazil and abroad.