"The addition of Reinaldo to our Hispanic marketing team is fundamental to our plans to extend our strong presence and growth within the Hispanic community," said Katie Bayne, chief marketing officer, Coca-Cola North America. "Hispanic consumers have always been critical to Coca-Cola, and Reinaldo brings a deep understanding of the richness of the culture and how to communicate most effectively with the Hispanic community."

Padua joins the company from the Zyman Group, an international marketing strategy consulting firm, where he was a managing consultant for several global clients in the food, beverage, retail and insurance industries. While at Zyman Group, he led projects that helped clients identify and capture the existing opportunities in the U.S. multicultural market to maximize growth at the brand and portfolio levels. Prior to joining Zyman Group, Padua held key marketing positions with Procter & Gamble and Kraft Foods in Latin America and BellSouth in the US.

Padua has more than 12 years of experience in multicultural marketing, general marketing strategy, product management, and market research for global consumer package goods and telecommunications companies. Born and raised in Venezuela, Padua holds an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and bachelor's degrees in Systems Engineering and Business Administration from Universidad Metropolitana in Venezuela.

From the June 9, 2008, Prepared Foods e-Flash