PepsiCo hopes Nokia India star repeats his magic for it

D Shivakumar appointed chairman and chief executive officer for India

 

Beverages and food giant PepsiCo on Monday announced D Shivakumar, who has worked with Finnish handset maker Nokia for about eight years, as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) for India with immediate effect.

Shivakumar’s appointment comes a month after PepsiCo chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi announced the company would invest another Rs 33,000 crore ($5 billion) in India by 2020.

Shivakumar succeeds Manu Anand, who quit as India president in June to join Cadbury India as managing director. Since then, PepsiCo has been without an India head, with Sanjeev Chadha, CEO for Asia, West Asia and Africa (AMEA), overseeing the region.

India investment
PepsiCo said Shivakumar would be responsible for deploying the Rs 33,000-crore ($5 billion) investment.

Shivakumar will oversee all aspects in India, including the Pepsi-Cola, Lay’s, Slice, Kurkure, Tropicana, Quaker and NourishCo (a joint venture with Tata Global Beverages) brands. He will also look after the franchise businesses in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Shivakumar, who quit Nokia in March this year, was heading Nokia’s businesses in India, West Asia and Africa. In 2011, he moved from India to Dubai to oversee businesses in almost 90 countries, after making India one of Nokia’s most profitable markets.

During Shivakumar’s tenure, the Finnish handset maker expanded its mobility retail outlets to 200,000 from 35,000. Asha, Nokia’s smart feature handset range, and Lumia, the company’s flagship smartphone, was introduced during Shivakumar’s stint.

Still, the company saw South Korea’s Samsung dethrone it as the leader in India. Nokia, which had a 54 per cent share in the Indian handset market in 2009, was down to 22 per cent in early 2013.

Before joining Nokia, Shivakumar, who graduated from Indian Institute of Technology-Chennai and Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta, ensured higher volumes for the Lipton tea brand at consumer products maker Hindustan Unilever, where he worked for 14 years. He has also worked with Philips Consumer Electronics India for three years when the electronics giant had doubled its revenue from India.

‘Proven ability’
PepsiCo boss Nooyi 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 maximising innovation, execution and collaboration.”

PepsiCo also named Gautham Mukkavilli, general manager for India beverages, senior vice-president, business transformation, AMEA.

Starting March 1, Mukkavilli will oversee a range of initiatives in food and beverages across AMEA. Both Shivakumar and Mukkavilli will report to AMEA boss Chadha.

“I’m thrilled to have two leaders of Shivakumar and Mukkavilli’s statures 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.”

Chadha said: “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.”