Luis Felipe Avellar has been appointed as the new president of The Coca‑Cola Company’s Africa operating unit, with his term beginning on September 1. Avellar is currently leading the company’s operations in Mexico, which are part of the Latin America operating unit. He will take over from Luisa Ortega, who is moving into her new role as president of the Europe operating unit.
Avellar will report directly to Henrique Braun, Coca‑Cola’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
“Luis has had an outstanding career that has included extensive leadership roles in our Latin America operations,” Braun said. “Luis also has experience working for our company in Africa, and I’m excited to see him return to Johannesburg to build on the system’s ongoing work to serve the growing African market.”
Avellar, 49, began his tenure at Coca‑Cola in 2002 as a finance specialist based in Brazil. He later assumed various positions of increasing responsibility within Brazil before being named general manager for the Brazil South Region in 2016. In 2019, he was appointed vice president and general manager for Southern Africa, headquartered in Johannesburg. Two years after that assignment, he returned to Latin America where he became president of Brazil and South Cone operations before moving into his current post overseeing Mexico operations in 2023.
Before joining Coca‑Cola, Avellar started his professional journey at SC Johnson in Brazil’s finance department in 1998.
