Debabrata Mukherjee, an industry veteran with over 29 years of experience, is taking over as the CEO for the Bangladesh operations of the global footwear, apparel and fashion accessories manufacturer and retailer, Bata Corporation. Bangladesh is a key strategic market for Bata and is also a sourcing hub for other global operations of the company. He will be reporting to Rajeev Gopalakrishnan, President APAC region.
Mukherjee also known as Debu or Debu Da in the industry, is moving on from his current role as the Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Emami Agrotech, where he was providing strategic portfolio leadership to the edible oils business and had full P&L responsibility for the Foods business.
Debu is an extremely well-known name in the Indian corporate ecosystem and has a wide range of professional experience in general management, marketing and sales operations, business strategy and innovation.
He started his career with Unilever India and after a four-year stint, joined Coca-Cola in 1998 as Franchise Manager for Mumbai. He held several roles of increasing responsibility in general management and marketing and commercial leadership in The Coca-Cola Company in India, South Korea and South West Asia.
He ended his stint at the Coca-Cola Company as the Vice President of the South West Asia operations to join the Hindustan Times group in April 2018. During his tenure as the Executive Director at Hindustan Times, he anchored the creation and implementation of strategies for revenue growth.
Debu joined the United Breweries group in 2019 and was responsible for creating strong consumer centricity and developing a broad-based, winning portfolio for the organisation. He managed a diverse set of local and global brands like Kingfisher, Ultra, Heineken and Amstel.
He has a First Class Bachelor of Science (Hons.) degree in Economics from Presidency College, Kolkata and also a First Class Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Kolkata. In 2014 he was awarded the ‘Beverage Marketer of the Year’ award by the International Advertising Association (IAA) in the FMCG Beverages category. He has served as an independent director on the board of Anand Bazaar Patrika group. He has been part of the Audit Bureau of Circulations Council of Directors since 2011 and has served twice as the Chairman of the Council. He has also served as a jury member for multiple industry leadership awards and has spoken in a diverse set of industry and commerce forums. He is a management committee member of the prestigious Mumbai Ad Club.
