PepsiCo India chief elevated to head West Asia & Africa

PepsiCo today announced that Sanjeev Chadha, Chairman & CEO of PepsiCo’s India Region, would take charge as Chief for the Middle East & Africa with effect from January 1.

He will also be a member of PepsiCo’s global leadership team: the PepsiCo Executive Committee. Chadha’s new area of responsibility is one of the largest and most profitable regions of PepsiCo, headquartered in Dubai.

The company said Chadha’s move follows the successful transformation of PepsiCo India under his leadership into the most diversified, the largest and one of the fastest growing food & beverage businesses in the country. In the past two years, India’s beverages and foods businesses have been the largest volume growth contributors to PepsiCo across the globe. Investments are at an all-time high and new growth vehicles such as the upcoming joint venture with the Tatas are in place.

Manu Anand will succeed Chadha as Chairman & CEO, PepsiCo India Region. He moves from Thailand, where he was CEO for South East Asia, responsible for the foods and beverages business in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Pacific Islands. He has driven significant growth of their foods businesses across South East Asia, including the rapid expansion of snacks in Thailand, their snacks entry into the promising new market of Vietnam and innovative launches in Indonesia. He has also led fantastic growth in beverages, says the company.

The third key leadership change in the India Region is the appointment of Varun Berry as CEO of PepsiCo’s foods business in India. He is currently CEO of International Dairy & Juice, a joint venture between PepsiCo and Al Marai, the dairy market leader in West Asia. Berry has been with PepsiCo for 17 years, during which he has held several roles across different markets in India, Vietnam, Philippines and Dubai.