It’s hardly a surprise to see more Indians at the helm of large companies globally, but it’s certainly sweet to see more Indians in the confectionery space taking on global mandates. A host of leading foods and confectionery companies boasts a list of Indian executives who are transforming the business and marketing landscape through their business acumen, deep rooted customer understanding and unmatched marketing skills.
Here are some of these confectionery kings whose leadership have put them in global positions running operations and marketing for the world’s leading confectionery companies and brands.
Sameer Suneja, group chief executive officer, Perfetti Van Melle
Sameer Suneja is the first non-Italian to head the third largest confectionery group in the world – Perfetti Van Melle, as group chief executive officer. During his time at PVM India, Suneja was credited with making Perfetti a market leader with 25 percent market share in India. He speaks fluent Italian and is an MBA in Marketing, Finance, and International Marketing from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. Suneja went to St. Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Delhi and graduated in 1989. He completed his masters from IIM Bangalore in 1994. Suneja joined Colgate Palmolive as a brand manager in June 1994 and left Palmolive in January 1996 to join Frito Lay (PepsiCo). He joined Perfetti Van Melle in February 1997 and was promoted to the role of executive vice-president for global innovations and business development in 2012. Suneja was appointed global CEO of PVM in August 2013.
Perfetti Van Melle is a private company that manufactures and distributes confectionery and chewing gum in more than 150 countries. It owns brands such as Mentos, Chupa Chups, Alpenliebe, Frisk, Smint, Fruit-tella, Golia, Brooklyn, Vivident, Happydent, Daygum, Vigorsol, Big Babol and Airheads. In 2021 Perfetti Van Melle Group reported net revenues of approximately Euros 2.5 billion.
Deepak Iyer, executive vice president and president, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (AMEA), Mondelez International
Deepak Iyer is EVP & President Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA) for Mondelēz International, a global snacking leader with 2023 net revenues of approximately $36 billion driven by iconic brands such as Oreo, Ritz, LU, Clif Bar and Tate’s Bake Shop biscuits and baked snacks, as well as Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka and Toblerone chocolate. He also sits on the Mondelēz International Management Leadership Team.
A veteran in the FMCG industry, Iyer brings 30 years of management experience spanning roles in Sales, Marketing and General Management with P&L responsibilities. Based in Singapore, Iyer is currently responsible for the business operations of more than 70 markets in the region, across 13 time zones.
Iyer joined Mondelez India as President in 2016 and successfully led the business to sustained double digit growth, navigating several disruptions over the years. He has led the India business to scale new heights in creative excellence, strong execution in the market, supply chain resilience and crossing new frontiers on sustainability and digitizing the business.
Prior to joining Mondelez India, Iyer served as the CEO and Managing Director for both Bharti AXA General Insurance Company and Wrigley India. Iyer also spent 17 years at PepsiCo in different roles in India, South Asia, Middle East, and Africa. He also worked in Marico Industries, Coats Viyella, and Tata Telecom. Iyer holds an MBA from SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai and is an Engineering Graduate from Sardar Patel University, Gujarat.
Hemant Rupani, business unit president South East Asia (VN, MY, SG, TH & ID), Mondelez International
Global food company Mondelez International appointed Hemant Rupani as its new president of its Southeast Asia business unit in 2022. Prior to that he was the managing director of Mondelez Kinh Do Vietnam. Rupani is responsible for the SEA cluster of markets including the exports business in the broader Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) region, leading growth and end-to-end business. Rupani is a leader with over 20 years of experience working in India, the US and Vietnam covering various industries including food and beverage (F&B), telecommunications, and consulting.
Prior to joining Mondelez International in 2016, he worked with several leading organisations including PepsiCo, Vodafone, Britannia, and Infosys Technologies. Rupani said in 2022, “The SEA business has been on an accelerated growth path driven by increasing consumption, digital penetration, talented population, and cultural diversity in the region.” He added, “We have built a reign as category leaders across segments with our portfolio of iconic global brands and local jewels. Combining our solid team, local-first strategy, and robust investments, we are in a strong position to lead the future of snacking and drive sustainable growth forward.”
Anil Viswanathan, managing director, Mondelez Kinh Do, Vietnam
Anil Viswanathan runs the Mondelez Vietnam business – the fastest growing and one of the largest markets for Mondelez in South East Asia. Viswanathan joined Mondelez India in May 2000 as a management trainee and has spent more than two decades in the company, across a variety of roles including Sales, Brand and Category marketing, Strategy and New Business Development. His journey in the company has taken him into Regional and Global roles and into different categories including Chocolates and Biscuits.
In his last role in India, Viswanathan was managing marketing for Chocolates. Most recently, Anil was a part of the Global Chocolate Team driving chocolate innovation based out of Zurich, Switzerland. One of his achievements, amongst many others, has been the launch of Cadbury 5Star globally, which is now present in 3 continents including markets like Brazil and South Africa. Anil holds a MBA in Marketing and Finance from IIM, Calcutta and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT, Madras.
Under his leadership, Mondelez India created several breakthrough campaigns. One of the most prominent ones is the ‘Shah Rukh Khan – My Ad’, which saw its long standing agency Ogilvy Mumbai take home a Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2023.
Avik Sarkar, business head – emerging markets South East Asia and South Asia, Mars
Avik Sarkar is an experienced leader in the FMCG sector. As the former marketing director of the South African region at the Kellogg Company, Sarkar has an impressive list of accomplishments and milestones to his credit which include turning around the growth of All Bran (wheat flakes) through in-depth analysis on lapsed consumers alongside identifying triggers and barriers.
Sarkar, who led Kellogg Company as regional marketing lead – Middle East, Turkey, Africa, joined Mars as business head – South East Asia and South Asia, in February 2024. Sarkar started his career at Parle Agro and went on to work across Emami and ITC. During his stint at ITC, he facilitated the growth of soap brand Vivel in East India through impactful strategies & innovation, making it a market leader. Sarkar has built businesses from scratch, turning around a USD 100 million business from a loss-making unit to a profitable one and administered multi-category and multi-brand businesses across South Asia, Middle East, Turkey, and South Africa.
Sudhanshu Nagpal, senior director growth & ESG strategy, US, Mondelez International
Sudhanshu Nagpal began his innings at Mondelez with Cadbury India as sales manager in 2005, and as a brand manager for Cadbury Dairy Silk, Nagpal handled consumer marketing for the brand’s portfolio which included Silk, Shots and Bournville. Before taking on the role of senior director global biscuit category in 2022, Nagpal led core marketing and overall growth, share, P&L delivery agenda for the India Biscuit business. He was part of the EMEA Region Biscuit leadership team. Currently he is the senior director growth and ESG strategy US for Mondelez International.
Ankit Desai, general manager – South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, The Hershey Company
Hershey India’s chief marketing officer Ankit Desai was recently elevated to a global role. He will take up the role of General Manager for South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand at the Hershey Company. Desai joined Hersheys in 2017 as GM – Marketing. He has served as AVP – Marketing, handling portfolios such as Hershey’s Kisses, Syrup, Spreads, Cocoa.
Prior to Hershey, Desai was with Kellogg Company where he was associate director for Marketing. He joined the company in May 2013 as senior manager for Marketing. Desai was also with Italian confectionery maker Perfetti Van Melle for over seven years. Desai has the experience of working across diverse FMCG categories of Chocolates, Snacks, Breakfast Cereals, Groceries, Health F&B, Confectionary. He has also worked across multiple functions of Marketing & Sales, with cross-functional projects across Finance, SCM, R&D. As CMO of Hershey India, Desai led the Marketing Vertical, spanning multiple categories including chocolates, beverages, syrup, spreads, baking, confectionery, BFY. He also headed COE verticals of Digital, Insights/Research, PR and he was part of the Global Marketing Leadership Team.
In 2023, Desai was recognised and awarded at Storyboard18’s Visionaries program for leading marketers.
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