Corporate Leadership Team

Shekhar Anantharaman, Executive Director and CEO at ofi

A. Shekhar

Executive Director & CEO

Shekhar was appointed CEO of ofi in January 2020 upon its creation following the reorganization of the Olam Group. Shekhar joined Olam in 1992 and has been an Executive Director and a member of the Group Board since 1998. Shekhar held a variety of roles in the Olam Group, he was previously Group Chief Operating Officer, Executive Director – Finance and Business Development, and prior to this he incubated and managed various global businesses including the Nuts, Spices and Packaged Foods businesses, where he led many of the Company’s organic and inorganic growth initiatives. 

Rishi Kalra, Executive Director and CFO at ofi

Rishi Kalra

Executive Director & CFO

Rishi was appointed CFO of ofi in January 2020 upon its creation following the reorganization of the Olam Group. Rishi began his career with Olam in 2000 and during this period has served as CFO India, CFO West Africa, and President and Global Head of Corporate Finance. He is a founding member of the first Circle of Practice in Asia of The Prince of Wales Charitable Project, Accounting for Sustainability (A4S). A4S inspires action by finance leaders to drive a fundamental shift towards resilient business models and a sustainable economy.

Profile shot of Ashok Kristen, Managing Director and CEO, nuts

Ashok Krishen

Managing Director & CEO, nuts

Ashok is a management graduate with almost 30 years’ experience. He has been with Olam since 1992 and is the Global Head of the nuts business which includes almonds, cashew, hazelnuts, peanuts, pistachios and walnuts. He is also Chairman of the Executive Human Resource and Compensation Committee.

Profile shot of Gerard Manley Managing Director and CEO, cocoa

Gerard Manley

Managing Director & CEO, cocoa

Gerard has over 30 years’ experience in the cocoa and the chocolate industry and was a former Chairman of the Federation of Cocoa Commerce. He has been with Olam since 1998 and is Chairman of the Executive Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Committee.

Profile shot of Prakash Jhanwer, Global Head - Sales and New Channels

Prakash Jhanwer

Global Head - Sales & New Channels

Prakash joined Olam in 1998, taking responsibility for coffee operations in Uganda. He moved into the risk function in 2001 and relocated to Vietnam in 2007 to take on the role of Country Head, extending to a regional role in 2010.

 

Since 2016, he has been responsible for Olam’s Southeast Asia and China operations, which he continues to manage today. His key markets include China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and Thailand.

 

Prakash is a Graduate of Commerce and holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management. He was recently awarded the prestigious Young Alumni Achiever Award by his alma mater for Corporate Leadership.

Profile shot of Vivek Verma, Managing Director & CEO, coffee

Vivek Verma

Managing Director & CEO, coffee

Vivek joined Olam in 1992 to head operations in India. He is currently responsible for the Coffee and Commodity Financial Services businesses. Originally trained as an engineer, Vivek has over 30 years’ agri‑commodities experience.

Profile shot of Sandeep Jan, Managing Director and CEO, diary

Sandeep Jain

Managing Director & CEO, dairy

Sandeep adopted the responsibility for nuts and cocoa operations in Indonesia in 1998, when he joined Olam. He moved into the coffee business in 2003 and relocated to Singapore. In 2004 he started ofi’s dairy business. Today, Sandeep leads ofi dairy globally and is also responsible for driving growth and synergy for ofi across Asia Pacific.

 

Sandeep is a Graduate of Commerce and holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.

Profile shot of Tejinder Singh Saraon, Managing Director, cocoa

Tejinder Singh Saraon

Managing Director, cocoa

Teji joined Olam in 1997 and went on to manage ofi’s cocoa business in Togo, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Singapore. He moved to London in 2009 to manage the company’s global cocoa beans and products business, returning to Singapore in 2019.

 

He was integral in the integration process following the acquisition of ADM Cocoa in 2015. He is an expert in cocoa trading and origination, and previously served on the Board of Cocoa Association of Asia.

Briony Mathieson

Chief Marketing Officer

Briony joined the Olam Group in 2011 as part of the global sustainability team, becoming Global Head of Group Communications in 2012. She was responsible for promoting and protecting Olam’s reputation across all stakeholder groups, including employee communications and engagement. In 2020 she took on the role of CMO to ofi, encompassing customer marketing, employee engagement and reputation management.

Ian Haslegrave

Group General Counsel and Company Secretary

Ian joined ofi in January 2022, taking responsibility for the global legal, compliance and company secretarial teams.

 

Ian has over 30 years of experience working in both private practice and global FTSE listed companies across a diverse range of sectors including food, media and distribution. He has significant commercial, M&A and management experience with previous roles including executive management responsibility for HR, information security, indirect procurement and risk at a global level.   

Kamesh Ellajosyula

Chief Innovation & Quality Officer

Kamesh joined Olam in 2010 and held various senior manufacturing, innovation and quality roles. In 2020 he became Chief Innovation & Quality Officer at ofi, overseeing a global network of Innovation centers and driving quality and food safety across 100+ food ingredient manufacturing plants.

 

Kamesh holds a Master’s degree in Food Science from the Pennsylvania State University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the State University of New York.

Paul Serra

Managing Director North America

Paul joined ofi in October 2020, taking responsibility for ofi’s Safety, Engineering, non-commodity procurement, planning, logistics and manufacturing footprint of 117 manufacturing assets and over 11,000 employees in 36 countries. Paul has over 20 years of experience in the branded FMCG food industry with roles spanning supply chain, general management & business transformation.

Dan Turney

President & Global Head of Operations

Dan joined ofi in January of 2022, bringing with him 35 years of FMCG food industry experience. His industry experience includes many iconically branded food companies, several private label manufacturing entities as well as multiple private equity portfolio companies. Specializing in end to end operations and supply chain disciplines, Dan’s focus is delivering the ‘one-ofi’ business for all stakeholders across a balanced scorecard of performance. As the global, functional lead for operations, Dan is responsible for aligning and realizing successful, holistic results for ofi across more that 115+ facilities around the globe.

Sathyamurthy Mayilswamy

President – LatAm region & Cocoa Americas

Sathyamurthy (Satya) joined Olam in 1996 to manage Sesame and Cashew operations in Nigeria, before moving on to lead Cocoa and Cashew operations. He moved to Cameroon as Country Head in 2001 before taking the role of Country Head – Nigeria & Benin in 2004. He then established the business across South America in 2007. In 2020 he began his current role at ofi as Regional Head for Latam and head of Cocoa Americas  

 

Satya has over 30 years of international industry experience. He is an agricultural Engineering Graduate from CAE, TNAU (India) and holds an MBA from IRMA.

Yusuke Kurosaki

Senior Vice President, CEO Office

Yusuke joined Olam in 2016 and has worked across a wide range of initiatives, including corporate strategy, re-organization & re-structuring, operational excellence and customer excellence.

 

He has been in the food & beverage industry for over 15 years and has held various positions within the sector from supply chain & procurement, international sales & marketing, to business development and M&A.

 

Yusuke holds an MBA from New York University Stern School of Business.

Usha Kakaria-Cayaux

Chief Human Resources Officer

Usha joined ofi in September 2022, taking responsibility for driving the company’s one-ofi strategy and amplifying its unique entrepreneurial culture leading global diversity, inclusion and equity, organization effectiveness and global talent management.

 

With over 25 years of professional experience across a diverse set of industries and iconic brands, she has expertise across finance, sales, marketing, project management and strategy. Usha has worked across all areas of HR – leading HR strategy, talent management, organization transformation, leadership development and succession. 

Steve Byers

Chief Digital and Information Officer

Steve joined ofi in September 2022, taking responsibility for expanding ofi’s leadership position on sustainability by digitizing traceability, supply chain delivery, and social impact transparency.

 

Steve has over 30 years of experience, which includes working at blue chip global listed companies across a diverse range of sectors including distribution, consumer goods and food ingredients. He holds significant experience in Information Technology (IT) management and leading large-scale digital transformational initiatives.

Shekhar Anantharaman, Executive Director and CEO at ofi
A. Shekhar
Executive Director & CEO
Rishi Kalra, Executive Director and CFO at ofi
Rishi Kalra
Executive Director & CFO
Profile shot of Ashok Kristen, Managing Director and CEO, nuts
Ashok Krishen
Managing Director & CEO, nuts
Profile shot of Gerard Manley Managing Director and CEO, cocoa
Gerard Manley
Managing Director & CEO, cocoa
Profile shot of Prakash Jhanwer, Global Head - Sales and New Channels
Prakash Jhanwer
Global Head - Sales & New Channels
Profile shot of Vivek Verma, Managing Director & CEO, coffee
Vivek Verma
Managing Director & CEO, coffee
Profile shot of Sandeep Jan, Managing Director and CEO, diary
Sandeep Jain
Managing Director & CEO, dairy
Profile shot of Tejinder Singh Saraon, Managing Director, cocoa
Tejinder Singh Saraon
Managing Director, cocoa
Briony Mathieson
Chief Marketing Officer
Ian Haslegrave
Group General Counsel and Company Secretary
Kamesh Ellajosyula
Chief Innovation & Quality Officer
Paul Serra
Managing Director North America
Dan Turney
President & Global Head of Operations
Sathyamurthy Mayilswamy
President – LatAm region & Cocoa Americas
Yusuke Kurosaki
Senior Vice President, CEO Office
Usha Kakaria-Cayaux
Chief Human Resources Officer
Steve Byers
Chief Digital and Information Officer

Read ofi news

Blog Mar 8, 2023

Be the change: How women in Ghana are pioneering a more prosperous future for cocoa growing communities

International Women's Day is a moment to celebrate the progress toward achieving gender equality and women's empowerment. But it's also a chance to reflect and consider what still needs to be done to help achieve gender parity worldwide.

 

Take cocoa production, for example. On average, women earn only 21% of the income that men do1. At ofi, as part of our Cocoa Compass sustainability ambition and as a signatory to the UN Women's Empowerment Principles, we've been promoting gender equality in our cocoa supply chain for many years. I'll explain three ways we've approached this where I'm from, in Ghana.

News Aug 17, 2022

How can companies implement effective workforce nutrition programs? 

By Clara Tessler, Nutrition & Health Manager, ofi

 

Malnutrition and poor health around the world continue to negatively impact businesses as result of working days lost to illness and reduced workforce productivity.

 

As well as benefiting employees, investments by companies in health and wellbeing can lead to better employee engagement, reduced absenteeism and higher performance and productivity.

 

We want to create an environment where employees want to come to work every day – it’s in everyone’s best interest.

 

To that end, at ofi we’ve set a goal that by 2030, everyone in our primary workforce will have access to nutrition support. This is the goal we are working towards to ensure the health and wellbeing of all our employees, driven by our purpose to be the change for good food and healthy future.

 

In 2021, with support from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), ofi began the roll-out of the Workforce Nutrition Alliance’s Workforce Nutrition Scorecard to assess our baseline and develop or strengthen workplace nutrition programs that tackle issues related to malnutrition across our worksites globally. This includes initiatives across four pillars: healthy food at work, nutrition education, nutrition-focused and breastfeeding support, and resources for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.

 

Discover more from my discussion with GAIN and the Consumer Goods Forum in the Healthier Lives podcast:

Press Release Mar 21, 2023

ofi announces retirement of Gerard Manley

Company and industry veteran retires after a stellar career spanning over 25 years with the company and 40 years in the industry

 

ofi, a global leader in naturally good food and beverage ingredients, today announced that the CEO of its cocoa business, and the group’s Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), Gerard Manley, will retire at the end of June 2023.

Contact form call to action with the words want to talk, we'd love to hear from you. Get in touch today

Want to talk?

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch today.