Mr. R. Harish Bhat

Chairman

Mr. Bhat is the Brand Custodian at Tata Sons. He joined the Tata Group in 1987, as an officer in the Tata Administrative Service (TAS). Currently, he is the Chairman of Tata Coffee Limited. He is a Director on the Boards of several other Tata Companies, including Trent Ltd., Tata Starbucks Pvt. Ltd., Infiniti Retail Ltd., and Tata AIA Life Insurance Company Limited.

During his career spanning over 35 years with the Tata Group, Mr. Bhat has held several senior roles. These include stints as Managing Director of Tata Global Beverages Ltd., Chief Operating Officer of the Watches and Jewellery businesses of Titan Company Ltd., and the telecom business of the Group. He has played a key role in several strategic moves of the Group over the past two decades, including the launch and nurturing of many iconic brands of the Tata Group, the successful turnaround of the Jewellery business, as well as the acquisition of Tetley. Mr. Bhat is an alumnus of BITS Pilani and IIM Ahmedabad, graduating at the top of his class in both institutions. He won the IIM Ahmedabad Gold Medal for scholastic excellence in 1987. A decade later, he won the Chevening Scholarship for young managers, awarded by the British Government. In 2017, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from BITS Pilani. He has strong professional interests in strategy, consumer behaviour, business economics and business history; and has been a member of the Consumer Insights Panel of the Economic Development Board, Government of Singapore.

Mr. Bhat is passionate about writing and is a prolific writer who contributes regularly to various national publications. He has four published books to his credit, including the recent national bestseller “#Tata Stories”, which narrates 40 inspiring stories from the history of the Tata group.

Ms. Sunalini Menon

Independent Director

Ms. Menon is considered one of Asia’s recognised coffee cuppers and has more than 38 years of experience in the coffee industry, both within India and internationally. Her visual and organoleptic skills in coffee evaluation are respected and recognised the world over. Currently, she is the President of M/s. Coffeelab Ltd. In Bengaluru, India and a Special Lecturer at The Universita del Caffe de Trieste, Italy..

She is a Director on the Advisory Committee of the ‘Alliance for Coffee Excellence’, and is also on the Board of Trustees of the ‘Coffee Quality Institute’ of the Specialty Coffee Association of America. She is a postgraduate in Food Technology from the University of Madras, India and has held positions of increasing responsibility at the Coffee Board of India from 1972 to 1995, ultimately becoming the Director of Quality Control.

She has carried out assignments in Africa and South East Asia as a Coffee Corps Volunteer of the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) of the Specialty Coffee  Association of America. Ms. Menon received the ‘Eminent Personality Award for Outstanding Contribution to Indian Coffee’ in 2005 from the Speciality Coffee Association of India; ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ in the same year from the International Women’s Coffee Alliance Founding Committee; and ‘Leadership Medal of Merit’ in 2010 and ‘Alfred Peet Passionate Cup Award’ in 2014 from the Specialty Coffee Association of America. In 2018, she received the ‘First Lady Achievers Award’ for being Asia’s First Professional Woman Coffee Taster from the President of India.

Mr. Siraj Azmat Chaudhry

Independent Director

Mr. Siraj has nearly three decades of rich experience in agriculture, commodity risk management and the food processing industry. He was the Chairman of Cargill India, the wholly owned subsidiary of Cargill Inc., till 31st August 2018. He is a post graduate from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. He provides leadership and insights in policy advocacy for the industry as an active member of several Industry Associations -CII, FICCI, AMCHAM and USIBC. In the past, he has chaired the National Committee on Food Processing at FICCI. Moreover, he has chaired the Agriculture and Food India Subcommittee in US India Business Council. He has also chaired the AG and Food Committee of AMCHAM. Over the years, he has led significant industry initiatives for food safety, food fortification, food banking and waste reduction. Currently, he is the President of the Food Industry Capacity and Skill Initiative (FICSI) operating under NSDC. Mr. Siraj is a thought leader on Agriculture and food processing and his views are sought on various issues by the Government, Industry and the Media.

Dr. P G Chengappa

Independent Director

Dr. Chengappa is one of India’s leading Agricultural Economists. He has over three decades experience in teaching, research, extension and academic administration. He served as the Vice Chancellor of University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. Till recently, he was the National Professor of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore. He is a Policy Economist specializing in the area of agri-business and trade. He was a member of the working group on Agricultural Marketing of Planning Commission of India, for preparing the 12th Five Year Plan document. He has been a consultant to several international organizations including International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington; International Plant Genetics Resource Institute, Rome; International Rice Research Institute, Manila; and DSE Germany. He has been a visiting Professor to Universities of Reading and Wales. He was president (Elect), Indian Society of Agricultural Economics 2012 and President, Agricultural Economics Review Association, New Delhi 2013-16.

Currently, he is on the Board of Sam Agri Tech Ltd., Sam Agri Ventures Limited and Tasty Bite Eatables Limited.

MR. VENKATRAMAN SRINIVASAN

Independent Director

Mr. Venkatraman Srinivasan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from the University of Bombay and is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India since 1981. He is a partner in M/s. V. Sankar Aiyar & Co., Chartered Accountants, since 1984. He is engaged in Audit & Assurance practice and Direct Tax & Corporate Advisory Services since 1984, specializing in Statutory Audits of Banks, Mutual Funds and Financial Companies, Public Sector Companies, and advisory in the areas of Direct Tax, Company Law, Competition Law, the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) matters. He has a work experience of over 35 years.

He was a special invitee on the Accounting Standards Board of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for the F. Y. 2020-21 and was a special invitee on the Ind AS Transition Facilitation Group Committee of the ICAI for the F. Y. 2019-20. He has been Co-opted as a Member of the Expert Advisory Committee of the ICAI for the F.Y. 2021-22. He has also participated in the case study based governance program on “Audit Committees in this New Era of Governance” at the Harvard Business School.

Mr. Sunil A. D’Souza

Non- Executive Non – Independent Director

Mr. Sunil A. D’Souza is the Managing Director and CEO of Tata Consumer Products Limited. In his previous role, he served as the Managing Director of Whirlpool India Ltd. for four years. Prior to this, he spent almost fifteen years at PepsiCo, where he held several leadership roles. During his stint at PepsiCo, he handled all commercial aspects of the company’s foods and beverages portfolio and successfully led the business in a large cluster of Asian countries.

Mr. D’Souza began his career at Hindustan Unilever Ltd. in 1993. With over 26 years of rich experience, he has strong domain knowledge of the consumer products business with distinct focus on strategy, growth and execution. 

He is an engineering graduate from the University of Madras and holds a post-graduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.

Mr. Chacko Purackal Thomas

Managing Director and CEO

Mr. Chacko Thomas is a Bachelor of Science with specialization in Computer Science from University of Jodhpur. He has over 27 years of rich experience in Plantation Industry and has required expertise in Plantations, Business strategy, Sales and Marketing. He has been associated with the Company since 4^th August, 2015 and currently, he is the Managing Director & CEO of Tata Coffee. Before joining Tata Coffee, he was the Managing Director of Kannan Devan Hills Plantations Company Private Limited, Munnar.

Mr. Chacko Thomas is an alumnus of INSEAD Fontainebleau having done his Advanced Management Programme there.

Mr. K. Venkataramanan

Executive Director – Finance and CFO

Mr. K. Venkataramanan is the Executive Director - Finance and CFO of Tata Coffee since 25th October, 2014. Mr. Venkataramanan was formerly the Vice President-Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Tata Global Beverages Limited. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a Cost Accountant with more than 25 years of experience in diverse areas covering financial and management accounting, commercial finance, taxation, treasury, and corporate restructuring. He also oversees Risk Management, Governance and IT functions.