Coca-Cola İçecek appoints Ahmet Kürşad Ertin as CEO
Turkish Coca-Cola bottler Coca-Cola İçecek names Ahmet Kürşad Ertin as CEO from July 2026 while reporting strong 2025 volume and revenue growth despite a challenging economic environment.
TURKEY – Turkish bottling giant Coca-Cola İçecek (CCI) has announced the appointment of Ahmet Kürşad Ertin as its new chief executive officer, effective 1 July 2026.
Ertin currently serves as the company’s chief operating officer and will succeed Karim Yahi, who has led the Türkiye-based Coca-Cola bottler since September 2023. CCI confirmed that Yahi will step down from his position and return to the United States.
Yahi joined the company in March 2023 as deputy CEO before being promoted to chief executive later that year.
During his leadership, he brought more than two decades of experience within the global The Coca-Cola Company system and oversaw a period of operational and regional development for the bottler.
CCI said the appointment reflects an internal succession strategy, selecting Ertin, a long-serving executive with more than 25 years of experience within the organisation.
Ertin began his career at CCI in 1998 in the commercial department and has since held multiple leadership roles across the company’s international operations. He was appointed chief operating officer at the group office in January 2025 and will assume the CEO role next year.
Bottler Reports Strong 2025 Results
The leadership announcement was made alongside the release of the company’s 2025 financial results, which showed strong performance despite what management described as a difficult operating environment.
CCI reported that its total sales volume increased by 8% year-on-year in 2025 to reach 1.62-billion-unit cases.
On an unaudited basis and excluding the impact of hyperinflation accounting under TAS 29, the company’s net sales rose by 38.2% to T179.45 billion (US$4.08 billion). Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) increased by 33.6% to T28.23 billion, while net income climbed 33.2% to T12.44 billion.
Under TAS 29 hyperinflation accounting, reported net sales grew 3.9% to T187.18 billion. EBIT rose slightly by 1.8% to T25.15 billion, while net income declined by 27.4% to T14.07 billion.
CCI noted that the year’s performance came amid economic pressures in several of its markets.
“The trading environment was marked by pressure on consumer purchasing power across several of our markets, alongside spill-over effects from the Middle East,” the company said.
CCI added that it focused on maintaining a balance between volume and value, with a “continued emphasis on affordability.”
Looking ahead, the company expects the business environment to remain uncertain.
“Looking ahead to 2026, we expect the operating environment to remain volatile, as macroeconomic pressures and regional tensions continue to shape our markets. Our strategic priorities therefore remain largely unchanged,” CCI stated.
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