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Category: People

  • LT Foods appoints Amit Mehta as head of convenience & health food biz

    LT Foods appoints Amit Mehta as head of convenience & health food biz

    Mumbai: LT Foods announced the appointment of Amit Mehta as the head of the convenience and health food business for the 70-year-old consumer food company. Mehta’s key responsibilities will include formulating and implementing new product winning strategies and expanding LT Foods’s presence in convenience and health food segments, the company said in a statement.

    An influential leader with more than two decades of experience in driving growth for consumer-centric businesses, Mehta has an enviable track record of spearheading initiatives to achieve strong business results through process and project management approach in different industries.

    “LT Foods has diversified its product portfolio with new offerings in convenience and health food segment riding on consumer trends and by leveraging the strong brand equity and robust distribution network of its flagship brands ‘Daawat,’ ‘Royal,’ ‘Devaaya,’ and ‘Kari Kari’ globally,” said LT Foods managing director & CEO Ashwani Kumar Arora. “New products and innovation are critical to our long-term growth and to further improve profitability. In this regard, Amit with his unique blend of experience in finance, operations (setting up new businesses and restructuring), and business expertise will expedite our such initiatives to scale & enhance profitability.”

    Prior to joining LT Foods, Mehta was the managing director of Kohinoor Specialty Foods India Pvt Ltd (subsidiary of McCormick & Co Inc), where he played a key role in transforming the business with a vision to build a consumer-focused food business by launching various new products under Spice and convenient categories in India and for export markets. Mehta led the reinvigoration of the brand and built a strong focus on the e-commerce business.

    In his career spanning over two decades, he has led various strategic initiatives i.e. setting up infrastructure for supply chain network, manufacturing facility upgrade & turnaround, effective go-to-market strategies, innovation, and talent development, said the company in a statement. In the past, he has also worked with other reputed companies such as Kodak India, Narang Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers India, and Ernst & Young India.

    “I am excited to be part of LT Group, which is fast-growing and emerging Indian multi-national food company, in their pursuit to build and scale up food business in convenience and health segment, in and outside India, leveraging the strong foundation of its existing consumer rice business,” said Amit Mehta.

  • Sunaina Jairath joins Cred as communications lead

    Sunaina Jairath joins Cred as communications lead

    Mumbai: Sunaina Jairath has joined credit card payments app Cred as communications lead.

    Previously, Jairath was associated with Perfect Relations where she worked for more than 17 years as director of strategy and public policy.

    She is armed with over 18 years of experience in communication consultancy, public relations, and media management. Her other specialties are policy communication, crisis communication, entry strategies, corporate reputation management, project planning, issue management, public affairs and government relations, and D&I.

    Before Perfect Relations, Jairath was associated with agencies like Image PR, Image Inc, Convergys, and Destiji.

  • Tilt Brand Solutions onboards Purvi Mistry as senior director, strategy

    Tilt Brand Solutions onboards Purvi Mistry as senior director, strategy

    Mumbai: Brand & communication consultancy Tilt Brand Solutions has brought on board Purvi Mistry as senior director – strategy. She will report to Gulshan Singh, Tilt’s chief strategy officer and head of BrandT – the brand consulting division of Tilt Brand Solutions.

    Mistry joins Tilt with over 17 years of work experience across retail, market research and strategic planning at Reebok, Kantar, Millward Brown, FCB Ulka & Wunderman Thompson. Her stints with research and advertising were across HUL, Cavinkare, Marico, Kellogg’s, Nutralite, Castrol, Bajaj Auto, Reuters, Bank of Baroda, AMFI, and many more.

    “Purvi joins Tilt at a very exciting phase in our growth journey. Her skills and experience are a great fit with Tilt’s vision and culture as we continue to scale up and work on consolidated mandates,” said Gulshan Singh. “I am looking forward to bringing her expertise into play for our brands and clients, and to continue building on Tilt’s tradition of excellence.”

    Mistry was also instrumental in launching Heinz as a brand in Indonesia. In her most recent assignment, she was associated with BBH as strategy director.

    “Very rarely have I seen an agency so committed to bringing to bear its vision for strategic planning. Its core philosophy of ‘Full Brained Thinking’ is something I have been a passionate believer in, and also what I believe is at the core of my learned competencies thus far,” stated Purvi Mistry. “I am looking forward to working with a set of impressive visionaries to create many impactful brand stories and have an enriching and fulfilling professional experience.”

  • Taneira onboards Shalini Gupta as GM to spearhead growth

    Taneira onboards Shalini Gupta as GM to spearhead growth

    Mumbai: Taneira – the women’s ethnic wear brand from Titan, the Tata Group company has announced the appointment of Shalini Gupta as general manager – marketing, category, design, and supply chain. Gupta will lead the way to achieve the ambitious growth target set for FY23 by the brand by solidifying the brand value proposition, said the brand in a statement.  

    An alumna from SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Gupta has been associated with Titan for almost two decades. She has donned numerous leadership positions in the company, such as heading marketing for Sonata watches, being the business head of Helios and licensed brands in the watches division of the company to being the CMO for Titan Eye Plus, the eyewear business of the company.

    Speaking on her new role, Gupta said, “Over the past few years, Taneira has brought the best Indian weaves under one roof for the progressive Indian women and has also supported the weaver community from across the country. The brand has won the hearts of many customers in a short period of time, and is now poised to scale up exponentially. I look forward to playing a role in making Taneira the most loved brand for women’s ethnic wear in India”.

    Taneira was launched in 2017 to bring about innovation in the women’s ethnic wear category, which   is still largely unorganised, through differentiated designs from over 65 weaving clusters in India, celebrating the diverse textiles and craftsmanship and authenticity of handcraft, said the brand.

    The business began with the launch of sarees and has now gradually expanded to festive & bridal lehengas, dress materials, ready-to-wear blouses, salwar and kurtas, stoles and dupattas.

  • WareIQ appoints Biswanath Dalai as head of sales

    WareIQ appoints Biswanath Dalai as head of sales

    Mumbai: Y-Combinator-backed modern e-commerce fulfillment platform WareIQ has appointed Biswanath Dalai as head of sales. In this role, Dalai will be responsible for driving growth for WareIQ with large-base merchant acquisition across SMBs & enterprises.

    Prior to joining WareIQ, Dalai worked with organisations like Indiamart & Cleartax where he was responsible for managing a national sales team targeting large SMB market opportunities in India. He has the expertise of managing large agencies, channels, and teams of 500+ people during his career and has been instrumental in the 0-1, 1-10, and 10-100 stages for start-ups, and corporates like HCL Infosystems, Vodafone, and Jio.

    “We are delighted to welcome Biswanath in the organisation and are confident that his expertise in building high-performance sales organisation & achieving ambitious growth goals will prove to be a major contributor in the success of WareIQ,” stated WareIQ founder and CEO Harsh Vaidya. “Under his direction, we will continue to strategise our sales initiatives for a large volume SMB acquisition as demonstrated by him with organisations like Indiamart, Cleartax, and Jio, and hope to take WareIQ to greater heights.”

    An engineering graduate from NIT Karnataka along with an MBA from SIBM Pune, Dalai brings with himself an extensive experience of over two decades in sales and P&L across market segments & industries. 

    “I am excited about the size of the market opportunity that WareIQ is targeting. They are on the cusp of disruption with a large volume of eCommerce brands & retailers coming online looking for a reliable supply-chain partner,” said Dalai on his new role. “With WareIQ’s proposition anchored on the speed with Amazon Prime-like fulfilment, I believe we can drive a large market share in the coming months. At WareIQ, my endeavor would be to align our go-to-market with major market trends that drive our growth.”

  • CleverTap appoints Sidharth Malik as global CEO

    CleverTap appoints Sidharth Malik as global CEO

    Mumbai: User engagement and retention cloud CleverTap has expanded its core leadership with the appointment of Sidharth Malik as global CEO. The announcement comes as CleverTap accelerates its international growth and builds new capabilities to help digital consumer brands increase its customer retention and foster lifetime value. 

    Malik comes with a track record of building and leading dynamic organisations in competitive markets. Formerly the chief revenue officer at Freshworks, a SaaS provider of customer experience solutions, he was instrumental in scaling its business from a single product to a multi-product platform with a global footprint.

    Malik’s appointment marks a new chapter in CleverTap’s journey. Under the leadership of co-founder and founding CEO Sunil Thomas, the company has penetrated new markets and achieved $45 million in annual recurring revenue in less than six years of monetisation, with a 235 per cent compounded average growth rate. 

    “Sidharth’s passion, insights and leadership skills, coupled with his experience in helping take a world-class SaaS startup from India to the world, make him the right leader at the right time for CleverTap. His appointment significantly strengthens CleverTap’s core foundation and leadership team, preparing the company to scale globally and chart to an IPO,” said Thomas. 

    To further realise the company’s strategic vision, Thomas will assume the role of executive chairman and focus on scaling innovation and strategic direction for CleverTap, while Malik will help provide leadership for organisation-building and day-to-day business execution, said the statement.

    CleverTap chief growth officer Vikrant Chowdhary stated, “It’s so heartening to have Sidharth come on board as CEO to partner with me as we scale the business for faster growth, while Sunil focuses on innovation and strategic initiatives with a founder’s mindset. We are extremely confident in our ability to execute our growth charter and expand global leadership in our category.”

    Uniquely positioning itself as a full-stack retention cloud, CleverTap has introduced an entirely new product category and expanded its capabilities. Earlier this month, the company further cemented its position with the acquisition of Patch, a technology designed to provide seamless, contextual and secure communications between companies and consumers.

  • DeHaat appoints Rohit Sareen as senior VP

    DeHaat appoints Rohit Sareen as senior VP

    Mumbai: Homegrown full-stack agri-tech company DeHaat has announced the appointment of Rohit Sareen as senior vice president – Agri Output. 

    An ex-banker turned agri-entrepreneur with strong interest in sustainable food solutions, Sareen has been the founding member of multiple agri-ventures, latest of which was FreshMantra Pvt Ltd, a fully integrated provider of ‘Seed to Plate,’ eco-friendly agricultural produce & food solutions. He was working with 8500+ farmers to create a strong food safety network & build an efficient advisory ecosystem across key agricultural pockets of India.  

    Prior to his movement in the agri domain, Sareen spent 14 years working in investment management, building businesses in consumer banking, trade finance and strategy in the banking domain with renowned organisations such as Bank of America, Merrill Lynch International, Citibank Singapore & Citi India.

    “DeHaat has a rich history of serving the farmer community,” said Rohit Sareen. “I had been following DeHaat for many years and was impressed by their farmer first, tech enabled & entrepreneur friendly ecosystem. I am excited to be part of this organization and look forward to contribute towards enhancing the food safety aspect of agricultural produce through sustainable & viable practices.”

    Sareen added, “Through my experience at FreshMantra, I hope to significantly improve DeHaat’s operational excellence by enhancing scale and automation in newer geographies – both within India & abroad. With DeHaat’s current network of farmers, institutional buyers, and micro-entrepreneurs, I aim to support the farming community through this business footprint.”

    The kind of leadership skills that Sareen brings will enhance DeHaat’s in-house knowledge in building AI-enabled technologies to revolutionise supply chain and production efficiency in the farm sector, said the company.

    “We are excited and grateful to have Rohit in our team. His vision to build a sustainable food value chain, from farmers to consumers, coupled with his entrepreneurial mindset & effective leadership style will be key to the continued success of our output business,” stated DeHaat co-founder & director Adarsh Srivastav. “We are keen to collaborate with similar passionate entrepreneurs and work towards our objective of creating a complete ‘Farm-to-Fork’ journey of every crop grown in the country.”

  • PepsiCo names Ram Krishnan as CEO, international beverages

    PepsiCo names Ram Krishnan as CEO, international beverages

    Mumbai: Global snacks and beverage company PepsiCo has promoted Ram Krishnan, currently serving as chief commercial officer, to the newly created role of CEO, international beverages and chief commercial officer.

    The company also appointed Jane Wakely as executive vice president (EVP), chief consumer and marketing officer and chief growth officer (CGO), international foods.

    Both executives will report to PepsiCo chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta.

    Krishnan, a 15-year PepsiCo veteran, will focus on driving accelerated growth for the international beverages business, including the company’s international franchise bottlers, with an end-to-end focus on brand-building, innovation, supply chain, digitalisation, talent, and sustainability. He will also be charged with leading faster growth for the SodaStream and Beyond the Bottle businesses, as well as the Pepsi Lipton partnership, the company’s joint venture with Unilever.

    This move, effective January 1, 2022, will bring PepsiCo’s critical beverage expertise and commercial capabilities into one group, with an eye toward optimising the end-to-end operating model, capital allocations and building new capabilities. Krishnan will continue to oversee the company’s e-commerce business and global commercial capabilities, said the statement.

    “Ram has been an incredibly effective leader for our commercial agenda,” said Laguarta. “With this newly created role, he will bring focus and a proven formula for success to drive faster growth for our International Beverages business.”

    Wakely brings to the company an intense focus on consumers, insights and building best-in-class brand and category growth strategies.

    In this new role, she will focus on driving accelerated growth by elevating PepsiCo’s consumer-centricity, innovation, brand, and marketing capabilities. As CGO – international foods, Wakely will be responsible for accelerating the Positive Choices pillar of pep+ (PepsiCo Positive), which includes evolving the company’s portfolio into new spaces that are better for the planet and people by developing products with more diverse ingredients, such as plant-based proteins, nuts and seeds, and whole grains.

    “Jane is a creative and commercially-oriented marketer who is passionate about purpose and innovation as critical growth levers,” said Ramon Laguarta. “She has a proven track record of success, and I am confident that with her leadership, we will take our consumer-centricity, innovation, brand, and marketing strategies and capabilities, and International Foods growth to a new level.”

    Wakely joins PepsiCo with 28 years of marketing experience at Procter & Gamble and at Mars, where since 2019 she served as lead CMO and CMO of Pet Nutrition, one of the largest divisions of Mars’ $40 billion portfolio. She was previously global CMO of its chocolate division. She has operated globally and in highly complex product categories, brands, and businesses across a variety of growth, turnaround, and transformation challenges.

    “PepsiCo is a marketing powerhouse known for its commitment to innovation and world-class, consumer-focused brands,” said Wakely. “I look forward to working with my future colleagues to delight consumers with new propositions and purpose-driven brands that bring pep+ to life.”

  • Endemol Shine India promotes Anaya Mohanty to top creative role

    Endemol Shine India promotes Anaya Mohanty to top creative role

    Mumbai: Endemol Shine India on Wednesday announced the promotion of Anaya Mohanty into the role of head of development for premium scripted and non-scripted, reporting directly to Endemol Shine India CEO Abhishek Rege.

    Previously the business’ creative director for premium scripted development, Mohanty was responsible for managing talent acquisition, internal development, and creative supervision. Now expanding her remit, she will oversee premium scripted and non-scripted development, with the view to identifying new projects to take to market. 

    Under scripted, she will supervise the concept pipeline, service platforms for projects in development and will coordinate with co-producers, outlets, and various entities to create, package, and produce shows. While on the non-scripted front, she will support the development of homegrown ideas and IP, while targeting TV Networks and OTT platforms with titles that have the potential to resonate with their relevant audiences.

    “Given Anaya’s experience, I have no doubt she will thrive in this role. In her new capacity, she will play a key role in ensuring we devise and execute a standout premium slate, which garners attention from our network and OTT clients across the county,” stated Abhishek Rege. “Quality has always been key to our strategy and in setting this new role, we will continue to commit to delivering in line with this goal.”   

    A skilled leader with a master’s in mass communication and media studies from Jamia Millia Islamia, Mohanty has almost two decades of experience in the creative field. Prior to joining Endemol Shine India, she worked with Colour Yellow Productions Pvt Ltd, Eros Now, and CNBC-TV18. She has also worked as a creative consultant, writer, and senior producer on multiple projects.

    “I am honoured to be taking on this new role, which presents a hugely exciting opportunity to have strategic oversight of our entire premium development pipeline,” said Mohanty on her promotion. “Universal themes have always been at the heart of all our shows and ensuring our titles remain relatable for diverse audiences is key. Over the coming months, we will look to build up a slate which is bursting with ground-breaking, high-quality titles that are carefully considered, tailored, and targeted to capture the attention of all our clients.” 

  • Cars24 onboards Sudhir Shukla as CMO

    Cars24 onboards Sudhir Shukla as CMO

    Mumbai: Cars24 has brought Sudhir Shukla on board as chief marketing officer (CMO). In this new role, Shukla will be responsible for marketing and growth of the company’s India business, according to his Linkedin profile.

    In his most recent role, Shukla worked with Star Sports as head of marketing. In this role, his key responsibility was to drive consumption for the entire sports portfolio.

    Prior to his elevation, he was senior vice president – cricket. He joined Star as VP and head – marketing and brand strategy where he led projects across Hotstar, entertainment, and sports.

    Before joining Star, Shukla worked with Mondelez International as head-modern trade, CSD and away from (NCD) channel. He was associated with Mondelez for over a decade.

    Shukla is an alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur and Vivekanand Education Society’s Institute of Technology.