Sanjeev Kumar
Product Innovation | R&D | Strategy | Foods, Dairy & Beverages | CFTRI | Ex DRL, Cargill, Unilever, ITC, TBEL | ISB PGPMAX ’25 |
- Role
- Vice President - Research and Development at Parle Agro Pvt Ltd
- Location
- Mumbai, MH, IN
- LinkedIn followers
- 500 followers
About Sanjeev Kumar
A passionate Food Technologist and Innovation Leader with 22+ years of progressive experience across R&D, product innovation, and commercial strategy, I bring a legacy of building and scaling winning product portfolios across FMCG and Nutrition sectors. From leading innovation at Cargill and Unilever to launching award-winning products at Dr. Reddy\'s and ITC, I’ve helped transform product ideas into scalable, profitable brands. My career is built on deep expertise in ingredients, consumer insights, and operational excellence, enabling cross-functional collaboration and future-ready innovation. With global exposure and a PGPMAX from ISB underway, I am keen to drive growth and transformation by delivering consumer-centric, cost-effective, and high-performance product solutions.I am also engaged in advising food and food ingredient startup as an independent consultant. I am also engaged in delivering lectures to reputed food tech institutes and helping startups. I got my master’s in food tech from Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore. After that I entered professional journey and contributed to all the aspects of Food Technology, be it Manufacturing, Quality Assurance, Product Development, Application, Technical Services or Leading a Category!As a Technical Lead at Unilever, Cargill and DRL, I have developed Kissan Sweet and Spicy Sauce, Kissan Nutrismart Health Drink, Amaze Extruded Bites, Celevida/Celehealth Kidz gummies and helped the various associated customers from B2C or B2B Business Development team to launch the projects on time. As my role in Manufacturing during my early years of career at Tasty Bite and ITC (Kitchens of India & Aashirvaad), I have delivered the production target and managed shop floor operations and excelled in people management skills. In all through my Professional career I have demonstrated significant strengths and contributed to the following areas - Expertise in Product Innovation & Transformation, Leadership in Technical Strategic Initiatives and Operational Excellence.I believe my PGPMAX from ISB combined with my two decades of experience from food industry (organizations like ITC, Unilever, Cargill, DRL) will enable me to contribute overall organizational growth and people development at Beverages and Dairy Legacy Brand of Parle Agro (Frooti, Appy, Appy Fiz, Smoodh, Bailley, Dhishoom.etc.).
Experience
Vice President - Research and Development
Dec 2025 — Present · Mumbai, IN
R&D: Beverages, Dairy, New Product Category; Scientific & Regulatory Affairs; R&D Team Buildup
Education
Central Food Technological Research Institute, Cheluvambe Mansion, Mysore.
M.Sc., Food Technology
2001 — 2003
Indian School of Business
PGPMAX (Post Graduate Programme in Management for senior executive)
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