Amit Banati of Kellogg’s heads Food Industry Asia

amit-banati-of-kelloggs-heads-food-industry-asia

The Food Industry Asia (FIA) a non-profit society based in Singapore that represents and promotes the views of the food and drink industry throughout the region, using science-based advocacy to help shape public policy has announced that Amit Banati (Kellogg Company) has been elected as president of FIA at its Annual General Meeting held on 29 April 2014 which was attended by over one hundred and fifty representatives and guests from the food and beverage industry. Besides Amit Banati, Ehab AbouOaf (Mars Inc.) elected as FIA Vice-President, Manish Yadav (McDonald’s) as FIA Treasurer, and Declan MacFadden (Symrise) as FIA Secretary.

FIA in its release noted that the committee comprises a diverse team of seasoned industry leaders, representing a varied group of companies and categories, spanning the length and breadth of the supply chain in Asia. The new team steps into the shoes of the outgoing leadership group, led by Umran Beba from PepsiCo who oversaw a vibrant period of growth at FIA.

Amit Banati, FIA President
Amit Banati joined Kellogg Company as President, Asia Pacific, in March 2012. He is also a member of the Kellogg Company’s Global Leadership Team.

Prior to joining Kellogg, Mr Banati served in a variety of board and leadership roles at Kraft Foods, Cadbury Schweppes and Procter & Gamble. He has worked extensively across the Asia Pacific region, particularly in Australia, India, China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and Singapore.

He received a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Calcutta University and a master’s of business administration degree from the Indian Institute of Management in Lucknow.

Kellogg’s was a founding member of FIA in 2010 and Mr Banati has been a valued member of the FIA Co-ordinating Council since 2012. Before stepping up to the role of FIA President, Mr Banati served as Vice President of FIA for the last two years, during which time he has been a popular leader on the FIA Coordinating Council. Kellogg been particularly active in the area of nutrition and has been a key driver behind FIA’s activities on voluntary front-of-pack nutrition labelling and the promotion of responsible advertising commitments throughout the region.



Ehab AbouOaf, Vice President
Since October 2010, Ehab AbouOaf has served as Asia Pacific President of Mars Chocolate and as a member of the Mars Global Chocolate Board of Management. Prior to taking on his current role, he led the Mars China Chocolate business. He joined Mars in 2000 and championed the company’s market entry into Egypt and then covered the North African and East Mediterranean region, leading 17 markets.

Mr AbouOaf started his career in Research & Development at Procter & Gamble in Saudi Arabia, and later played various roles within R&D around the world. He was a Group Manager in the European Technical Centre in Brussels, Belgium in charge of developing upstream global products, a Section Head in the Kobe Technical Centre in Japan championing the product program and market entry for the Home Care segment in Asia Pacific, and Global Associate Director for Home Care Products, located in Brussels, Belgium.

Mars is a founding member of FIA. In his new role as FIA Vice President, Mr AbouOaf will be an integral part of the new leadership team, bringing with him tremendous depth in China and a strong drive towards measurable deliverables for FIA’s workstreams.

Manish Yadav, Treasurer
Manish Yadav is Vice President, General Counsel for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa for McDonald’s Corporation, and has held this position since October 2011.
Prior to joining McDonald’s, he held a number of senior positions with Johnson & Johnson, including Assistant General Counsel and Regional Counsel Asia Pacific. During this period he served as General Counsel for Johnson & Johnson’s Venture Capital Group and Independence Technology. He was Corporate Counsel – International Mergers & Acquisitions for Alcatel Lucent from 2000 until 2003. Prior to that he was an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell in the mergers and acquisitions group.
McDonald’s was a founding member of FIA in 2010 and Mr Yadav has been a valued member of the FIA Coordinating Council since 2012. He is a highly respected legal counsel within the food industry and will add a unique perspective to current legal issues, financial governance and Competition Law in his new role on the FIA governance board.

Declan MacFadden, Secretary
Mr MacFadden is President, Asia Pacific Flavour Division at Symrise, the world’s third largest supplier of flavourings and fragrances. He is an experienced international business leader in developing highly diversified, cross-cultural and high performing teams in Asia. He currently manages an 800-member team that includes R&D, manufacturing, sales & marketing across all major markets in APAC. He is a member of the Global Leadership Team. He sits on the Boards of Probi, a Swedish publicly listed biotechnology company that develops and sells probiotics with well-documented beneficial health effects. He also sits on the Board of Indevex AB, a Swedish biotech company providing evidence based natural nutrition concepts addressing non-communicable diseases. Symrise holds a strategic shareholding in Probi and Indevex.

Mr MacFadden has served on the FIA Coordinating Council since 2012 and is a trusted and popular member of the team. He brings a passion for science and innovation to the FIA agenda and ensures that the food and beverage industry is well-represented in the nutrition debate.

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