Paula Costa

President, Emerging Category

Paula Costa is President, Emerging Category, for The Coca‑Cola Company. In this role, Costa oversees the development of the company’s global alcohol ready-to-drink portfolio.

Costa joined the company from Switzerland-based bottler Coca‑Cola HBC, where she served as group director, premium spirits. She led distribution partnerships with international premium spirits brands, including Brown-Forman, Edrington Group and Bacardi. She oversaw the regional marketing team for Finlandia vodka in CCH territories, which was acquired in 2023.

Costa’s career has included roles across Europe and Latin America. She joined CCH in 2021 from Diageo, where she was vice president of marketing for Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and duty-free borders. She worked for Diageo from 2019 to 2021 and oversaw a portfolio that included Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, Tanqueray, Gordon ́s, Ypioca and Bailey’s.

From 2017 to 2019, she was with Electrolux in Latin America, where she led the region’s marketing for large appliances. From 2014 to 2017, she worked for L’Oreal, serving as chief marketing officer and general manager for the Luxury division in Brazil.

Earlier, she held roles with Samsung Electronics in Brazil and Unilever in Brazil and the United Kingdom.

Costa is a native of Brazil. She earned a business degree from Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo and an MBA from Dom Cabral Foundation, also in Sao Paulo, in partnership with INSEAD and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business.