He’s another example of PepsiCo’s deep pool of homegrown talent that has streamed across the world. Returning from Thailand is Manu Anand, who has been appointed chairman of PepsiCo India region, with the recent change of guard at the company.
He replaces Sanjeev Chadha, who has been elevated as head of PepsiCo Middle East & Africa. As CEO for Southeast Asia, Anand was responsible for the foods & beverages business in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Pacific Islands.
Anand has also led the business unit to growth in beverages, building a track record of success that earned him admiration from peers and team members. He has been with PepsiCo for 16 years, and was the chief architect of the growth of PepsiCo’s food business in India. During his leadership, the business launched Kurkure, now the largest brand of salty snacks in the country, and Frito Lay, the fastest-growing business of the decade. He joined PepsiCo in 1994 as CFO for the foods business and took over as CEO in 1998.
Anand is a product of PepsiCo’s ‘College of Leadership’, which has helped PepsiCo India develop a very strong pipeline of talent. After completing his schooling from Mayo College in 1975, Anand graduated from St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, in 1978 with a BSc degree with honours in Physics in 1978 and then completed his chartered accountancy. He previously worked with ICI India from1983 and held a number of finance assignments until he left in 1994 to join Frito Lay India.
