Anupam Katheriya to spearhead Cholayil as its new CEO

Cholayil Private Limited, the parent company of household brands such as Medimix and Cuticura, has announced the appointment of Anupam Katheriya as the new chief executive officer. At Cholayil, Katheriya will be spearheading the aggressive growth and diversification plans of the company across its portfolio of brands.

With over 2 decades of experience in the consumer goods industry, Katheriya served in leadership positions at multinationals like Heinz, Nestle and Emami.

In his last stint, Katheriya was associated with Suraksha Diagnostics, where he served the company as their COO for close to a year.

His longest stint was with Emami, where he was associated with the company for over ten years. He joined the company in June 2012 as their general manager and helped the company in introducing new products in the oil and talc categories. He was then elevated to the role of senior manager in April 2015. Under his leadership, the market share of the company under the oil and talc categories went up by 15.4 per cent and 6.2 per cent beating all their competitors. Katheriya took up the AVP role in marketing and business development, in February 2019, when he delivered P&L of INR 800+ Cr. portfolio of brands in personal care like Hair Oil, Skin Care and Talc.

He has also been an integral part of Nestle India, where he worked for the company for over five years. He joined the company in March 2007, as their senior brand manager and led the business of 300+ Cr. confectionery portfolio (POLO, Milkybar, Eclairs, etc) of Nestle India. He was then elevated to key account sales manager in June 2009, where he won the national award for best performing region in Nestle India for FY 2010-11.

In his initial days, Katheriya has also worked with brands like Kraft Heinz, where he was associated with the company for close to 7 years.

Speaking on the new appointment, Pradeep Cholayil, chairman and managing director, Cholayil Private Limited, said, “We welcome Anupam onboard to lead Cholayil and our illustrious portfolio of diverse brands. We want to become a wholistic personal care company and we are confident that with his wide experience, Anupam will help us grow our omnichannel brand presence and help take our purpose forward across various consumer touchpoints. We aspire to achieve a 1000 Cr. turnover in the near term for which we are investing in our brands, people, processes and infrastructure. Anupam will enable the growth by identifying the right financial sources and lead business transformation.”

The newly appointed chief executive officer, Cholayil, Anupam Katheriya said, “Cholayil has strong equity and base in Ayurvedic and natural products and has potential to scale?-?up as we contemporise our offering further and reach out to newer segments. It is indeed a great opportunity and honour for me to add value to the portfolio of brands and take them to newer heights. We have aggressive plans for making this company as 1000 Cr. in the near term. Cholayil is well-positioned for growth, and I am excited to unlock the Company’s significant potential for our consumers, employees, investors and other stakeholders.”

Katheriya is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and Delhi College of Engineering. ?He has been an esteemed recipient of multiple prestigious industry awards such as the PITCH Best CMO Awards 2022, and was also recognized as one of the Top 60 CMOs ‘22 in India, amongst many others.

Cholayil is growing rapidly and has doubled its turnover in the last 4 years. The appointment of new CEO is in line with Cholayil becoming a 1000 Cr company within the next 4-5 years. Apart from soaps, the company manufactures several toiletry products including face wash, body wash, hand wash, body lotion, talc, deodorant, etc. The company has a global footprint with a presence in more than 35 countries across the world.