Britannia appoints PepsiCo's Varun Berry as COO and VP, marketing

Berry was COO of PepsiCo Foods India. He replaces Neeraj Chandra, who will take over as vice-president, strategy and new business development.

Britannia Industries has roped in Varun Berry as chief operating officer and vice-president, marketing, sales and innovation. Berry moves in from PepsiCo India, where he was the chief operating officer for the company's food division, PepsiCo Foods India. With this move, Berry replaces Neeraj Chandra, who has been promoted and will take over as vice-president, strategy and new business development.

Armed with more than 27 years of experience, Berry began his career as a marketing manager with Brooke Bond India, a Unilever company. After a six-year stint with the company, he moved to PepsiCo India as market unit general manager in 1993. Seven years into the company, he was named chief operating officer for PepsiCo's Vietnam office. A little more than one year later, Berry moved to the Philippines as country manager for PepsiCo.

After spending almost eight and a half years in the Philippines, Berry moved to the UAE as chief executive officer, International dairy & juice. For the record, International dairy & juice is a joint venture between PepsiCo and Almarai (52:48), to manufacture and market dairy products and juice in West Asia, Africa, the Indian sub-continent and Southeast Asia. Later, in January 2010, he was named CEO for PepsiCo Foods India.

Chandra, meanwhile, has been the chief operating officer and vice-president of Britannia Industries since October, 2008. Prior to that, Chandra served as marketing chief of Britannia Industries since August, 2005. Chandra has also worked as the regional brand director at Hindustan Lever. He graduated as an electrical engineer from IIT, Kanpur and is an MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad.