Manu Anand to be Cadbury India MD from August 16

Putting all speculation to rest, Cadbury India today said that ex-PepsiCo India region president Manu Anand would be joining the company on August 16 as managing director.  He would additionally hold the title of president, India South Asia, Mondelez International, replacing incumbent Anand Kripalu, who has stepped down from his position after eight years with the company.

55-year-old Anand, who had spent 19 years with PepsiCo, had resigned on June 20 amid rumours that he was joining Cadbury, rechristened last year as Mondelez, following a global split of parent Kraft Foods’ businesses.

Kripalu is expected to be with the company for the next two months as part of the mandatory hand-holding process. ‘The two (Anand and Kripalu) will work together over the coming weeks to ensure business continuity and a successful transition in line with the company’s culture,’ Cadbury India said in a statement.

The Mumbai-based snacks and chocolate major has also initiated a few other changes in its senior managment team even as Anand comes on board.

Siddharth Mukherjee, who was earlier with Mondelez in Zurich, will take over as chocolate category head in India from Chandramouli Venkatesh, who will now lead the chocolate business for the entire Asia-Pacific region. Venkatesh was earlier director, snacking, India, at the company.

Narayanan Sunderaraman, who was earlier category director, beverages, gum candy, consumer insight strategy, will now be category director, biscuits, South East Asia with responsibility for seven markets including  Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Phillipines, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. He will take up his new position this September, the company said. A replacement, incidentally, for him is yet to be found. Cadbury India did not specify when that was likely to happen.

The management rejig happens at a time when Cadbury has seen its lowest growth rate since 2006. The company, which has consistently grown by over 25 to 30% in previous years, experienced the first hints of a slowdown in FY12, seeing its revenues increase by just 20.8% to Rs 4,065 crore. Profit after tax increased just 2.1% to Rs 303.4 crore for the period under review as consumers cut back on discretionary spends on account of high food inflation.

The company’s weak performance impacted Kripalu’s salary, with the 54-year-old IIT-IIM alumnus, who has worked earlier with companies such as Unilever and who successfully managed the transition from Cadbury to Kraft and then Mondelez  between 2010 and 2012, seeing his pay package being slashed by 35% to Rs 7.14 crore for FY12.

Manu Anand to be Cadbury India MD from August 16