Beverages and food major PepsiCo today said it has appointed D Shivakumar , who had worked with Finnish handset maker Nokia for about eight years, as the chairman and CEO for PepsiCo’s businesses in India region, with immediate effect.
The announcement comes within a month after PepsiCo Inc chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi announced that the food and beverages major will be investing about Rs 33,000 crore ($5 billion) in India by 2020.
Shivakumar succeeds Manu Anand, who quit as PepsiCo India president in June this year and has joined Cadbury India as managing director. Since June, PepsiCo has been without an India head and has been overseen by Sanjeev Chadha, CEO of PepsiCo, AMEA (Asia, Middle East and Africa).
In a statement PepsiCo said that Shivakumar will be responsible for strategically deploying the Rs 33,000-crore ($5 billion) investment in India that PepsiCo announced last month.
At PepsiCo, Shivakumar will oversee all aspects of PepsiCo’s India Region, including key brand like Pepsi-Cola, Lay’s, Slice, Kurkure, Tropicana, Quaker and NourishCo, a joint venture between PepsiCo and Tata Global Beverages. He will also look after the franchise businesses of PepsiCo in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
Shivakumar, who quit Nokia in March this year, had headed Nokia’s businesses in India, West Asia and Africa. In 2011, he moved from India to Dubai, had moved to the global role to oversee businesses in almost 90 countries, after making India as one of the most profitable markets for Nokia.
During his tenure at Nokia, the Finnish handset maker was successful in expanding its mobility retail touch points to about 200,000 from about 35,000. Nokia’s smart feature handset range Asha that became a huge success in India was introduced during Shivakumar’s tenure. Lumia, the flagship Nokia smartphone was also launched during his stint.
However, Nokia drastically lost its dominance in India market during Shivakumar’s tenure, losing out to South Korea’s Samsung Electronics. Nokia, which reportedly had 54 per cent market share in the Indian handset space in 2009, has seen it coming down to about 22 per cent in early 2013.
Prior to joining Nokia, Shivakumar, who is an engineer from IIT Chennai and an MBA from IIM Calcutta, had worked with FMCG major Hindustan Unilever for about 14 years ensuring volume boost for Lipton tea brands. He had also worked with Philips Consumer Electronics India for about three years when the electronics major had doubled its revenue from Indian market.
Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo Inc, said, “Shivakumar is one of India’s most respected business leaders. He has a proven ability to take billion-dollar businesses to the next level by maximizing innovation, execution and collaboration.”
PepsiCo also said Gautham Mukkavilli, currently General Manager for PepsiCo India Beverages, has been named senior vice president Business Transformation – AMEA.
Starting 1 March 2014, Mukkavilli will oversee a range of strategic initiatives in both foods and beverages across Asia, Middle East and Africa. Both Shivakumar and Mukkavilli will report directly to Sanjeev Chadha, CEO – PepsiCo AMEA.
“I’m thrilled to have two leaders of Shivakumar and Mukkavilli’s stature playing key roles in driving PepsiCo’s business forward in AMEA. Both embody the passion and excellence that will strengthen AMEA’s position as the growth engine of PepsiCo as they bring their unique skills to bear in their respective roles,” said Chadha.
Commenting on his appointment, Shivakumar said, “PepsiCo is one of the world’s most innovative, respected and successful companies.
“Shivakumar is a natural leader. He is known to be a great coach and mentor who inspires people to do their best and overcome challenges with a smile on their face,” said Chadha.
Source: Business Standards
