The Coca‑Cola Company has appointed Paula Costa as the president of the emerging category, responsible for the company’s global alcohol ready-to-drink (ARTD) portfolio.
Costa will assume the role on 1 January 2025, succeeding Khalil Younes, who has decided to step down to explore other opportunities, the company noted.
Paula Costa
Costa is an experienced professional who most recently served as group director of premium spirits at Coca‑Cola HBC.
She has led distribution partnerships with international premium spirit brands, including Brown-Forman, the Edrington Group and Bacardi, the cola giant noted.
She has overseen the regional marketing team for Finlandia vodka, which was acquired in 2023 by Coca‑Cola HBC.
In 2021, Costa joined Coca-Cola HBC from Diageo, where she served as vice-president of marketing for Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, and duty-free borders.
From 2019 to 2021, she worked for Diageo and oversaw a portfolio that included Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, Tanqueray, Gordon’s, Ypióca and Bailey’s.
Between 2017 and 2019, she was with Electrolux in Latin America, leading the region’s marketing for large appliances.
She served as chief marketing officer and general manager for the luxury division of L’Oréal in Brazil from 2014 to 2017.
Earlier, she had held roles with Samsung Electronics in Brazil, and Unilever in Brazil and the United Kingdom.
Khalil Younes
Younes commenced his career in 1988, with Procter & Gamble in France, and joined Coca‑Cola in 1993.
He held various roles of increasing responsibility in marketing and general management, including as general manager of the company’s business unit in Hungary.
He also served as the global brand director of Fanta and, from 2008 to 2009, vice-president of global juice marketing.
In 2009, he left Coca‑Cola to join the Carlsberg Group in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he served as SVP of global sales, marketing and innovation.
In 2014, he returned to Coca‑Cola and spent five years as executive vice-president of marketing and new businesses in Japan.
Younes was instrumental in launching Lemon-Dou, the first ARTD beverage of the Coca‑Cola Company, in 2018, in Japan.
In 2021, he relocated to Atlanta to begin his current role, as president of the global emerging category.
Helene Gayle
Elsewhere, the Coca‑Cola Company has announced that Helene Gayle has retired from her duties as a director.
Gayle had served as a director of the company since 2013, as well as being a member and former chair of the talent and compensation committee.
She was also a member of the corporate governance and sustainability committee.
“I thank Helene for her 11 years of service and valued leadership for our company,” said James Quincey, chair and CEO of the Coca‑Cola Company.
“Helene has had a distinguished career and has been a vital member of our board.”
