Unibic Foods names Naveen Pandey, former Marico executive, as CEO

Unibic Foods named Naveen Pandey as its chief executive officer on Tuesday. Pandey was formerly heading Marico India’s new foods’ business unit, where he led the start-up team to launch products such as Saffola mealmaker and honey, a statement issued by the company said. He has also worked with PepsiCo and Asian Paints earlier.

Unibic, which began its India business in collaboration with Unibic Australia in 2004, became a 100% independent Indian entity in 2012, backed by investments from Peepul Capital. The cookie maker, which competes with Britannia and Parle, was previously headed by Srini Vudayagiri, partner at Peepul Capital .

Unibic chairman of board of directors Sandeep Reddy said in a statement: “Naveen will contribute to develop strategic alliances and expand Unibic’s presence in India and in international markets.”


As reported by ET on Monday, leadership hiring has regained high momentum in the consumer goods space after a gap of over a year, led by private equity funded start ups, traditional companies foraying in the direct-to-consumer spaces, and digital and e-commerce platforms, with companies emerging from Covid-19 challenges and pushing growth across platforms.