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D Shivakumar, chairman & CEO of PepsiCo India, has quit the food and beverage giant. He will join the Aditya Birla Group as group head for corporate business development and strategy.
Santrupt Misra, director, group HR & CEO, carbon black business, Aditya Birla Group, confirmed the development. Ahmed El Sheikh, senior VP & GM for PepsiCo Egypt & Jordan, will replace Shivakumar as CEO of Pepsi-Co India.
Shivakumar joined Pepsi-Co India in December, 2013. Prior to that, he served as MD of Nokia India and its senior vice-president for India, Middle East and Africa. He was PepsiCo's first 'outsider' CEO since Rajeev Bakshi, who headed the company from 2001 to 2006.
While a PepsiCo India spokesperson first denied knowledge of the development, the company issued a statement confirming the Shivakumar's move just before this edition went to print. Shivakumar's move comes a few months after Venkatesh Kini, his counterpart from Coca-Cola India, put in his papers. Kini's exit followed a string of high-profile exits at the company.
Shivakumar, who is credited with leading PepsiCo's 'Power of one' strategy in India — integrating operations of the company's food and beverages' departments that ran as separate entities before — also witnessed a sustained period of senior management churn at the firm.
After seeing years of fastpaced growth, both Coke and PepsiCo are fighting an uphill battle in India. Dependent on fizzy drinks as the mainstay of their revenue, the US-headquartered companies have found it tough to plot a turnaround in their strategies, while consumers keep shying away from sugary carbonated beverages.
The Rs 14,000-crore soft drinks industry is currently undergoing a substantial consolidation, with many plants shutting down across the country and companies rushing to launch 'healthier' and lowcalorie beverages.
(THE TIMES OF INDIA )
