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Robert Long is the Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer of The Coca-Cola Company. In this role, he leads work to accelerate the growth of the company’s consumer-centric brand portfolio with hundreds of new products and continued innovation in beverages, packaging, ingredients and other areas of the business around the world.
Previously, Long was Vice President, Research and Development. In that role, Long created strategy and capability to deliver technical innovation to support the global business.
Long joined The Coca-Cola Company in April 2004 as Vice President, Global Packaging Platforms, and he played a key role in the development of contour aluminum bottles and new sustainable packaging. In 2007, he spent nine months establishing Global Category R&D roles to partner with Global Marketing in pipeline development. In October 2007, he moved to Tokyo to lead R&D for Japan, a position he held until coming to Coca-Cola North America in August 2010 to lead R&D. In 2012, he also assumed North America responsibility for Technical Governance (Quality, Environment, Safety and Scientific & Regulatory Affairs).
Long began his professional career at Procter & Gamble (P&G) in technical roles in Laundry and Cleaning Products Research & Development, focusing on detergent process and formulation. This included a five year assignment leading Cleaning Products R&D for South America, based in Caracas, Venezula. After this role, he became Associate Director Cosmetics R&D (Cover Girl & Max Factor), located in Baltimore, Maryland. Long later returned to P&G headquarters in Cincinnati, joining the Paper Division as an Associate Director for R&D Operations. This led to him being appointed an R&D Director in Paper Product Development, which included a three year assignment leading Fem Care R&D for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, based in Frankfurt Germany. After this assignment, Long returned to Cincinnati as the R&D Director for Folgers Coffee.
Long attended Princeton University, graduating with a Chemical Engineering degree. He obtained an MBA in Finance from Xavier University of Ohio. Long grew up in Washington, DC and graduated from Woodberry Forest High School in Virginia. He is currently on the Board of Trustees for Woodberry Forest School.
