Nestle India’s parent has proposed Manish Tiwary, ex-Amazon India head, as the new managing director to address stagnant sales and competition. Tiwary needs board approval to succeed Suresh Narayanan, who retires on July 30 after nearly a decade.
Nestle India’s Swiss parent is betting on former Amazon India head Manish Tiwary to steer the packaged foods giant’s unit as it grapples with stagnant sales and increased competition in the world’s most populous country.
Nestle SA said on Monday it had recommended Tiwary as a successor to Suresh Narayanan, who is set to retire as managing director of Nestle India on July 30 after nearly a decade with the company.
Tiwary will now need the board approval of Nestle India before taking over as managing director.
Tiwary oversaw Amazon.com’s India unit for more than four years until resigning two months ago.
He was one of the key architects of the company’s explosive growth phase when Amazon India overtook homegrown rival Flipkart to become the symbol of e-commerce in the country.
Prior to his eight-year stint with Amazon India, Tiwary worked with Unilever’s Indian and Middle Eastern subsidiaries, according to his LinkedIn profile. Tiwary did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Narayanan, who has previously headed Nestle’s operations in the Philippines, Egypt and Singapore, is also retiring as chairman of Nestle India.
Nestle India did not publicly disclose who would replace Narayanan as chairman. A company spokesperson told Reuters its board would “deliberate at an appropriate time” once it received a nomination for the position from its parent company.
The Maggi instant noodles maker missed earnings expectations in the quarter ended June, when it posted its slowest revenue growth in eight years.
Shares of Nestle India are down 3.2% for the year, while Nifty 50, the country’s benchmark index, is up 14%.