The Coca‑Cola Company has announced that Luis Felipe Avellar will become president of its Africa operating unit, starting September 1. Avellar is currently the president of Coca‑Cola’s Mexico operations, which are part of the Latin America operating unit. He will take over from Luisa Ortega, who is moving to lead the company’s Europe operating unit.
Avellar will report directly to Henrique Braun, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Coca‑Cola.
“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, joined Coca‑Cola in 2002 as a finance specialist in Brazil. He later held several positions with increasing responsibility in Brazil before becoming general manager of the Brazil South Region in 2016. In 2019, he became vice president and general manager for Southern Africa based in Johannesburg. Two years later, he returned to Latin America as president of Brazil and South Cone operations before being named president of Mexico operations in 2023.
Before joining Coca‑Cola, Avellar started his career at SC Johnson in Brazil in 1998.
