Ravi Jaipuria: Cola king of bottling operations

After Ramesh Chauhan, if there is one man considered cola king in India, it is 59-year-old Ravi Jaipuria. Unlike Chauhan who earned his stripes by building brands such as Thums Up, Limca and Gold Spot, Jaipuria has opted to be a backroom man, setting up and managing bottling units, the backbone of the soft-drinks business in India and the world.

Once a bottler for Coca-Cola, he switched to PepsiCo, when it came to India in 1989, and today is the third-largest franchise bottler for the latter in the world. Besides bottling operations under Varun Beverages, his privately-held RJ Corp, estimated to have annual revenues in excess of $1 billion (or Rs 6,000 crore) has franchises for KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Costa Coffee as part of his food services venture under Devyani International.

Jaipuria also has an interest in dairy products and beer, makes ice cream under brand Cream Bell in India and has a joint venture in agriculture and livestock in Uganda. Jaipuria has been expanding both his food and beverage operations aggressively in Asia and Africa recent years.

Considered a go-getter, insiders say he is constantly looking for avenues where he can invest. In recent years, he has forayed into healthcare and is also trying his hand at sportswear retail, which is managed by his son Varun.