Sudeep Nair is building a new empire
Food Empire Holdings Limited Singapore, a USD 280 million global food and beverage manufacturing and branding company, is headed by Sudeep Nair, 50, who hails from Evoor, Cheppad, in the Alappuzha district of Kerala.
Sudeep Nair, 50, hailing from Evoor, Cheppad, in the Alappuzha district of Kerala, is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Food Empire Holdings Limited Singapore, a USD 280 million global branding and manufacturing company in the food and beverage sector.
Sold in over 50 countries, in markets such as Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, China, Indochina, the Middle East, Mongolia, and the USA, Food Empire Holdings currently has 24 offices worldwide. Since my father was working for the Indian Air Force, we had the opportunity to move from one place to another, every few years, thereby getting to see and live in different parts of India during our childhood.
During our school years, the annual summer vacation trips to Kerala were something we eagerly looked forward to, as it meant spending time with both maternal and paternal grandparents, our cousins, assorted relatives, and extended family members, in the lush green village environs of Kerala.
I started my career in software development in Delhi in 1992 and very soon I got a break to move to Bangkok and worked there for a year till 1993. Later, the same year, I chanced to meet our Singaporean Founder Mr. Tan Wang Cheow, and moved with him to Singapore to join his newly set up electronic trading company in 1993.
I went to Russia during the peak winter season in December 1994, and after doing some spade work, set up our first office in March 1995, and in the process also met my future wife Irina, who helped me manage my office those years in administration and marketing. Later in 2012 I was appointed as the Group CEO with an additional responsibility to grow and diversify our business outside of Russia/CIS into Asia.
Our success or failure largely depends on the quality of our human resources and I am lucky to have found and nurtured a good management team across countries, who are working along with me for the Group, trying to compete and succeed in a very competitive environment, where we are pitched against world’s largest MNCs and local players.
Our success or failure largely depends on the quality of our human resources and I am lucky to have found and nurtured a good management team across countries, who are working along with me for the Group, trying to compete and succeed in a very competitive environment, where we are pitched against world’s largest MNCs and local players.
We started our business in India to use it as a manufacturing and exporting base, but we definitely also want to enter the Indian consumer market, and we are exploring some products that are in the soft drinks category other than coffee.
There were a few, but an important first one was in 1993 when I realized that I didn’t want to ” Our success or failure largely depends on the quality of our human resources and I am lucky to have found and nurtured a good management team across countries, who are working along with me for the Group, trying to compete and succeed in a very competitive environment, where we are pitched against world’s largest MNCs and local players.
Due to my role as Group CEO since 2012 where I have taken up the challenge to build and diversify our businesses outside Russia/CIS region, it takes away 185 days in a year traveling within Asia and Europe. I also make sure to visit my parents in Kerala, multiple times a year and also my sister and family in Dubai, with whom I am very close too.
If I am in some countries where I am on a business trip, it could be market visits, or brainstorming sessions with local management. I visit Kerala at least 3-4 times a year mainly to spend time with my parents and keep in touch with our relatives.
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