Ravi Jaipuria

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ravi Jaipuria

• Ravi Jaipuria is an Indian businessman and the chairman of RJ Corp. His company oversees Varun Beverages, the second-largest bottling partner for PepsiCo’s soft drink brands globally, excluding the U.S. Additionally, he manages Devyani International, India’s largest franchisee of Yum! Brands, operating popular outlets like KFC, Pizza Hut, Costa Coffee, and TWG Tea. Ravi Jaipuria is often recognized as India’s cola king.

• He owns a minority stake in Medanta, a healthcare company.

  

• Ravi Jaipuria lived in Montreal, Canada, for about 14-15 years and was engaged in the textile and real estate businesses.

• At 16, he moved to New York from Canada for higher studies. After completing his business management studies in the United States, he returned to India in 1985. In the same year, he joined the family bottling business, which primarily involved bottling for Pepsi-Cola, after losing close family members in the Kanishka air crash.

• Ravi Jaipuria, the youngest of CL Jaipuria’s three sons, established RJ Corp in 1987 after the family bottling business was divided among him and his elder brothers Chandra Kant Jaipuria and Surya Kant Jaipuria. Although the businesses of the three Jaipuria brothers were distinct, they continued to live in a joint family.

  

• Ravi Jaipuria then created separate entities for beverages, foods, and retail, naming them after his children Varun and Devyani. Varun Beverages oversees PepsiCo’s bottling operations, while Devyani International consolidates the restaurants (KFC, Pizza Hut, Costa Coffee) and retail ventures (Disney Artist).

• In 1988-89, Ravi Jaipuria expanded into the ice cream business with Cream Bell.

  

• The family joined hands with PepsiCo in 1991 when the U.S. company entered India and marked Ravi Jaipuria’s successful business move.

• Ravi Jaipuria introduced PepsiCo’s fast-food chains Pizza Hut and KFC to India in 1996. He then ventured into education by franchising two Delhi Public Schools in 2001. He entered the real estate sector with group housing projects in 2002-03.

  

• Ravi Jaipuria faced a tough period in his business when pesticide controversies in 2003 and 2006 significantly reduced Pepsi sales, leading to an almost 30% drop in sales overnight.

  

• He brought Costa Coffee to India in 2005. Thereafter, he entered the beer market through a partnership with InBev in 2007. In 2009, during a media interview, he narrated that 40% of his business comes from PepsiCo.

  

• According to Ravi Jaipuria, he loves watching the films of veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan and vacationing at waterfronts, especially at his house in Goa.