As the deputy chief executive officer of the Rs 5,783-crore Tata Global Beverages, Percy Siganporia has his hands full. Besides being a member of the executive office that oversees operations of the transnational company, Siganporia manages global manufacturing and procurement for the group and looks after the Asia-Pacific and the US regions. He took time out to speak to Viveat Susan Pinto about the transformation the company has been making from a tea-coffee major to a well-rounded beverage player. Edited excerpts:
PepsiCo has just announced the appointment of Punita Lal as the CEO of your joint venture (JV). With such a senior-level appointment, can we expect an announcement soon on the nature and scope of the JV?
It will take a few more weeks. Discussions are on at the moment. But there is no doubt in my mind that these discussions are not geographical. Very necessarily, however, the JV has to start with a base, establish its credentials and then move on. We will not restrict our ambition. What we have is a stable of product ideas that are 'good-for-you'. Similarly, the other side, too, has its stable of ideas. So, let it take its course. We also have to be conscious of certain strictures that exist at the moment. For instance, I do know that PepsiCo has an arrangement with Unilever regarding Lipton. It also has an arrangement concerning Tropicana as well. This is why there have been a series of discussions to define and carve out the space and the width of control that will be given to the JV. It is being done in a non-confrontational manner, with a spirit to drive the joint venture.
But will you foray into foods in the future?
We are really concerned with nutrition and with well-being; our focus is primarily on beverages now. But the manner of injection into the human system can take various forms. We have open minds.
When will Tata Tea migrate to your hallowed list of power brands?
We are working on that. The reason why it was kept out of the list was because it is executed in a limited environment of India. But the ambition is to see it migrate into the global league. The equity of the Tata name is something we can leverage on. Some 5-10 years ago, the equity of the Tata name was India-centric. Not any more. Brand names tend to play on the equity they build and the equity they grow upon. It resonates at different levels. It is up to us to define what it would be.
Are you satisfied with the restructuring the company has undergone in its drive to go global?
It was necessary. Two years ago, when we sat down to look at ways and means to address the issue – (of being) a large organisation with many acquired units and entities across countries – we realised we had to put a structure in place. We designed a virtual organisation that allowed us, in the first stage, to double-hat and then manage the transformation for our stakeholders in the next. This structure has allowed us to work together. So, we have the executive office based in London, which has Peter Unsworth, who is the CEO, me, as the deputy CEO, L K Krishnakumar, who is the group CFO, Nalin Miglani, the global HR & communications head, and John Nicholas, who is the chief marketing officer. The executive office oversees operations of the company. There are six regional presidents who report in to the executive office. These are for the South Asian, Great Britain & Africa, Canada and South America, USA, Europe and Middle East, including Russia and Asia-Pacific regions. This broad division has allowed us to distribute work effectively and function as a team.
You are placing a high premium on innovative products. SUKK, a jelly-based tea drink, is an example of that. Can we then expect SUKK to move into your global league of power brands?
It is still in the test-marketing phase in Manchester, UK. Let it first cross that hurdle, get launched in the UK, and then we will decide where it should go next. It is a strong candidate for the global portfolio, but let it first meet the parameters in the market where it is being test-marketed and launched. We will not restrict it to a particular market. What we are trying to do is get executions that have the potential to be global in nature. We are not interested in executions that are local in nature, though we may do some of them.
Our eyes are on the global picture. We began the test-marketing of SUKK some eight weeks ago in Manchester. We are excited about the product. We have, for instance, another innovation in the Canadian market under the Tetley umbrella, called Infusions. It is a viscous product, a liquid that can be poured into a glass of water and be served as a ready-to-drink. It's that easy. So, unlike powdered concentrates which you stir, etc, this dissolves easily. So, there is no trouble that you have to take to produce it. We are equally excited about this one, too. So, as I pointed out, we have our set sights globally at products that have global applications. These products do not require liquid distribution, but ambient distribution. We can fit this into our route-to-market, access-to-market parameters and we can bypass the entire liquid chain itself.