Khosla’s president of Kraft International

NEW DELHI: The year 2007 has started on a good note for global Indians. One of the world���s largest foods company, the US-based Krafts Foods, has named former senior Unilever executive and Fonterra Co-operative Group CEO Sanjay Khosla as president of Kraft International Commercial, with immediate effect.

Mr Khosla, a member of the Kraft executive team, would directly report to CEO Irene Rosenfeld. As president, Kraft International Commercial, Mr Khosla would be responsible for the company���s $11-billion business outside North America. This could mean Kraft���s renewed focus on India in times to come.

Though food company Kraft has been working on a India strategy for quite sometime and also taken approval for a wholly-owned subsidiary, there���s been no progress on that front so far.

Before joining Kraft, Mr Khosla was managing director of the New Zealand-based Fonterra Co-operative Group since 2004.
Talking about the new recruit, Irene Rosenfeld, Kraft CEO, was quoted as saying: ���Sanjay will be a dynamic leader of our international business. During his career, he has gained extensive global experience and deep insights in consumer marketing. Sanjay has an impressive track record of growing businesses and will help us write the next chapter in Kraft���s growth.���

In return, Mr Khosla was quoted as saying: ���I���m thrilled to join the Kraft team. This is exciting time for both the company and the industry. And I look forward to working with my new colleagues in taking full advantage of the many opportunities before us in our international business.���

Mr Khosla is a consumer goods industry veteran. He had a 27-year career with Unilever across the globe, which includes India, the UK and Europe. He was senior vice-president of global beverages and chairman of the Unilever beverages category board. Mr Khosla graduated with honors in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology. In 1998, he completed the advanced management programme from Harvard University.