Coca-Cola Bangladesh gets 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, as well as the first woman, to be appointed to the role by this Fortune 500 Company, reads a press release issued yesterday. 

In this role, Ju-un will work closely with bottling and business partners, customers and other external stakeholders in the country. 
Ju-un started her career with Unilever as a management trainee in marketing. 

She has left her mark in various roles with Unilever Bangladesh including leading the team that won a Guinness world record for the nationwide 'Lifebuoy hand washing campaign' covering 86,000 youth simultaneously in over 60 locations. 

She moved to Indonesia in 2014 with Rickett Benckiser looking after the Dettol business, Ju-un then worked with Danone Indonesia as Head of Innovation and then joined 'aCommerce', an end-to-end e-commerce enabler present across seven ASEAN countries, as the FMCG (Fast-moving consumer goods) director. 

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

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

"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."

Ju-un is the first woman from Bangladesh to be appointed to this position and will be replacing the outgoing 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 (CSB) is the country's first digital music platform, with a YouTube channel of 2.86 million plus subscribers, surpassing the combined subscriber count of some of Bangladesh's biggest brands. 

Coke Studio Bangla has fans in major cities of Bangladesh, like Dhaka, Chattogram, and Rajshahi.

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.