Pepsico appoints Sanjeev Chadha as CEO for Asia, West Asia and Africa

PepsiCo Inc yesterday appointed Sanjeev Chadha as chief executive officer for Asia, West Asia and Africa.

With the appointment, Chadha will take charge of operations in 90 of the 200 countries where the company has a presence.

Chadha  will be responsible for scaling up the revenue share from the region, which currently accounts for only about 10 per cent of the company's total revenues despite its population accounting for two thirds of the global population.

Chadha was earlier the company's president for West Asia and Africa.

With Chadha's elevation the battle for market share is likely to hot up in the region with two India-born professionals locking horns.

The other is Coca-Cola's deputy president (Pacific group) Atul Singh.

The markets in China and South Korea are expected to see much action after the two led their respective companies for the Indian turf pushing double-digit volume growth through their tenures in the process.

In China, Coke with a 16.6 per cent share of the soft drink market is far ahead of PepsiCo which has only 5.1 per cent share.

Chadha in his new role, would report directly to PepsiCo chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi with his charge spanning operations across Africa, West Asia (a highly profitable market for the company), Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Southeast Asia, etc.

Chadha who has spent 23 years with the company would be based at PepsiCo's Dubai office and oversee all aspects of company's ( Asia, Middle East , Africa ) AMEA business.

Nooyi said, Chadha was one of the most respected senior leaders in the PepsiCo family with a strong track record of success. She added his leadership, experience and deep knowledge of the business, the region and its people would help to continue to drive success in AMEA.

Chadha, who is a founding member of the PepsiCo business in India, moved to the position of PepsiCo's president of Middle East and Africa in January 2011.

Prior to the assignment he was chairman and CEO of PepsiCo India and spent over a decade in Hong Kong, steering operations in the Asia-Pacific, before returning to India in 2007.

An alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and Hindu College, Delhi University, he has worked in each of AMEA's key markets and has lead multiple business functions including marketing, sales, innovation, franchise and general management.