Christian Polge (born March 27, 1965) is a French businessman who has worked as CEO of

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

France and Canada.

Biography

Education and personal life

Christian Polge was born on March 27, 1965. He graduated from

EDHEC Business School The École des Hautes Études Commerciales du Nord, commonly known as EDHEC Business School or simply EDHEC, is a French business school and ''grande école'' founded in 1906. It has campuses in Lille, Nice, and Paris, as well as in the United Ki ...

and

INSEAD INSEAD ( ; French: ''Institut européen d'administration des affaires'') is a non-profit business school with locations in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and North America (San Francisco, USA ...

. He is the father of three children.

Professional career

After graduating from EDHEC Business School, he received a job offer from the ''Société Parisienne de Boissons Gazeuses'', then a subsidiary of

Pernod Ricard Pernod Ricard () is a French company best known for its anise-flavoured pastis apéritifs Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis (often referred to simply as ''Pernod'' or '' Ricard''). The world's second-largest wine and spirits seller, it also produ ...

. The company was subsequently acquired by the

Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is lis ...

. He started as a sales representative, later becoming a sales manager for large retailers, regional manager for vending operations, and national key accounts manager. In 1994, he was promoted to National Director of the retail channel, and then became Regional Director for the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

region. From 2002 to 2005, he served as Vice President and Director of Sales and Marketing for Coca-Cola Enterprises. After several years on the board of directors, he was appointed President of the ''Institut Français du Merchandising'' (French Institute of Merchandising) in 2005, succeeding Serge Papin of

Coopérative U Coopérative U (Système U before 2024) is a French symbol group retailers cooperative of independent hypermarkets and supermarkets, headquartered in the Parc Tertiaire SILIC in Rungis, France. It owns the trademarks Hyper U, Super U, U Expres ...

. From 2005 to 2010, he was CEO of Coca-Cola France, the French subsidiary of the

. He was responsible for growth strategy, brand marketing, communication, and partnerships. He succeeded Paul Gordon, who was appointed European Strategy Director. During his tenure, Coca-Cola re-entered the bottled water market. He doubled Coca-Cola’s advertising budget and oversaw the launch of

Coca-Cola Zero Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, commonly known as Coke Zero, is a diet soda produced by the Coca-Cola Company. The drink was introduced in 2005 as Coca-Cola Zero as a new no-calorie cola. In 2017, the formula was modified and the name updated, the announc ...

in 2007. In 2009, he became President of the ''Syndicat national des boissons rafraîchissantes'' (National Union of Refreshing Beverages), which gathers the main soft drink manufacturers in France. In 2015, he was named President of Coca-Cola Canada and joined the Executive Committee of Coca-Cola North America. In 2018, he took over as CEO of the herbal tea brand Les Deux Marmottes, based in

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population o ...

, France.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polge, Christian French businesspeople Living people INSEAD alumni EDHEC Business School alumni 1965 births 21st-century French businesspeople