Suman Sinha, the former CEO of PepsiCo India passed away in Gurugram on Wednesday. He was in his early eighties.
Lloyd Mathias, Angel Investor & Business Strategist shared the information through a LinkedIn Post and said, “He was the original cola warrior triggering off the cola wars in India in the nineties. After spending over 2 decades in Hindustan Unilever, PM Sinha, better known as ‘Suman’ Sinha took charge as Chairman & CEO of PepsiCo India in 1992.
“A hard-driving, but caring & people-oriented manager, Suman mentored many careers many of whom went on to lead companies in India and overseas. A leader who always leads from the front and never fought shy of standing up for what is right”, the post added.
“And boy, did he believe in ‘working the markets’, where even the minutest execution errors didn’t escape his attention. And of course, telling off the teams in no uncertain terms. Suman Sinha passed away on Wednesday afternoon”, the post said.
PepsiCo entered India in 1989. PepsiCo was one of the most controversial private companies in India when he joined in 1993. He built a strong foundation for the company in the country.
During his tenure, Pepsico acquired Duke & Sons’ beverage. He was the second chairman of PepsiCo India who helmed the company for a decade from 1993 to 2003.
Paying tributes to Sinha, MK Sharma, former vice-chairman of Hindustan Unilever said, “Extremely saddened to hear about the demise of Suman, a friend, philosopher and guide for me over four decades.”
“He mentored me, coached me – indeed nurtured me into a professional and provided me insights into dealing with people at large and government in particular”, MK Sharma added.
Suman Sinha’s farewell was attended by Bollywood biggies Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. He started his career working with Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) as the head of government relations.
