Global beverages and snacks major PepsiCo announced the appointment of D Shivakumar as its Chairman and CEO, India Region. Along with that, the company also elevated Gautham Mukkavilli, current General Manager for PepsiCo India Beverages, as Senior Vice President, Business Transformation AMEA (Asia, Middle East and Africa), effective March 1, 2014.
Prior to joining PepsiCo, Shivakumar was Nokia’s Head for emerging markets including India. In its official statement, PepsiCo said, “Shivakumar will oversee all aspects of PepsiCo’s India Region, which includes. Beverage brands such as Pepsi-Cola, lay’s potato chips, Slice mango beverage, Kurkure snacks, Tropicana juices and Quaker oats. He will also be responsible for strategically deploying the Rs 33,000 crore investments in India that PepsiCo announced last month.”
last month, PepsiCo had announced plans for the company and its partners to invest Rs 33,000 crore in India by 2020 to double its business capacity in India. Shivakumar would also be responsible for the NourishCo joint venture with Tata Global Beverages and franchise businesses in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri lanka and the Maldives, statement further added.
Commenting on the appointment, Sanjeev Chadha, CEO, PepsiCo AMEA said both men will strengthen AMEA’s position as the growth engine of PepsiCo as they brought their unique skills to bear in their respective roles. “I am thrilled to have two leaders of Shiv and Gautham’s stature playing key roles in driving PepsiCo’s business forward in AMEA,” he added. In this new role, 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 Chadha. “Shiv is one of India’s most respected business leaders. He has a proven ability to take billion-dollar businesses to the next level by maximising innovation, execution and collaboration,” PepsiCo Inc Chairman and CEO, Indra Nooyi said. Shivakumar, as a senior executive with Nokia for most of the past decade, led India to become Nokia’s top-ranked market by revenue and one of its most profitable geographies. In his earlier stints, Shivakumar, has also worked with the likes of Hindustan Unilever and Philips Consumer Electronics India.
Commenting on his appointment, Shivakumar said, “I am thrilled to carry on the tradition of excellence, excitement and purpose that PepsiCo’s extremely talented team has established. These developments come in the wake of PepsiCo promoting Chadha to the position of CEO of its AMEA region operations, spanning across 90 countries.