The New York-based company’s global board includes two executive directors: chairman & CEO Indra Nooyi and vice-chairman and PepsiCo International CEO Michael D White, plus 11 independent directors.
The three-day board of directors’ meeting demonstrates India’s importance in PepsiCo’s future, said Sanjeev Chaddha, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo India.
The Indian arm of Coca-Cola’s biggest challenger recorded an all-time high volume growth of 33-35% last year at a time when its parent was grappling with falling sales. The company is looking to triple its Indian business in five years.
“We’re on track to do so, buoyed by the powerful growth momentum continuing this year,” said Chaddha.
Last year, PepsiCo held its first 26-member executive committee meeting in India in September. The board, which oversees PepsiCo’s business strategies and affairs around the world, is scheduled to meet with several senior Indian leaders as well.
Besides Nooyi and White, the board has a number of top executives of multinational companies. PepsiCo has classified India as a high priority market in the wake of the global slowdown that has affected its business in developed markets such as the US.
It allocated ‘region’ status to the Indian operations late last year, which meant more independent decision-making and faster allocation of resources. PepsiCo India had integrated its beverages and snacks under a common leadership in January, in line with Nooyi’s ‘power of one’ strategy followed in many world markets.
In June this year, the company announced investments of $220m in its beverages business this calendar year, to beef up manufacturing capacity, market infrastructure, supply chain, product innovations and R&D. The investment, PepsiCo India’s biggest in a single year in the beverages arm, is part of the company’s total $500m investment allocated for India over three years.
The company has invested $1bn in India so far. PepsiCo has 41 bottling plants in the country, of which its franchisee bottling partner Jaipuria group owns 28.
Source: The Economic Times
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