With the recent exit of its foods business chief, Mr Varun Berry, PepsiCo has moved swiftly to announce the appointments of two new CEOs to head its beverages and foods businesses for the India region.
Mr Praveen Someshwar, currently CEO, India, Beverages, moves to being CEO, India, Foods. Mr Gautham Mukkavilli, currently based in Dubai as Senior Vice-President, Global Nutrition Group (GNG), PepsiCo Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA), returns to India as CEO, India, Beverages. Both CEOs will report to Mr Manu Anand, Chairman of PepsiCo India Region.
All changes will be effective June 1, 2012.
In his new role, Mr Someshwar will be responsible for leading PepsiCo India's range of food brands, including Kurkure, Lay's, Uncle Chipps and Quaker along with the traditional snacks business under brand Lehar for which it has formed a separate business unit. Mr Mukkavilli, who will manage Pepsi's beverage brands such as Pepsi, 7 Up, Mirinda, Slice, Aquafina and Gatorade, has worked with Pepsi in overseas markets such as Vietnam, Thailand and the US.
In a recent interview to Business Line , Mr Someshwar had pointed out that the beverage business in India has been growing rapidly for Pepsi. The beverage category as a whole for the industry registered a 25 per cent growth in the third quarter of this year.