PepsiCo India has announced Komal Khanduja and Taranjot Kaur from MICA, Ahmedabad, as the winner of its global student challenge ‘Dare To Do More’(DTDM). The challenge aims to provide a platform for students to share their big idea to transform the food and beverage industry. The winners were selected among 3,800 entries received, for identifying and presenting a viable business plan.
The team Rajdhani Express were declared the winners, by the eminent jury, which included Lulu Raghavan, Managing Director, Landor; Ahmed ElSheikh, President, PepsiCo India; Pavitra Singh, CHRO, PepsiCo India; and Aditya Sinha, Sr Director and Head-Sales, PepsiCo India. The chosen parameters for the basis of evaluation includes creativity, thought leadership, critical thinking, and business acumen showcased by the teams in their presentation to the jury.
The winners will now go head-to-head with the Egypt challenge winners at the sector finale for the coveted ‘AMESA DTDM 2020’ winner title. The winning team will then get the opportunity to showcase their innovative idea along with winning teams from Europe and Latam sectors, to Ramon Laguarta, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo; and the PepsiCo global leadership team. The challenge winners from each of the three participating Sectors, will earn themselves a job offer and the opportunity to kickstart their career with PepsiCo. The AMESA Sector winners will also earn themselves mentorship from PepsiCo senior leaders, along with a three-month international project with PepsiCo in Dubai.
Speaking about the initiative, Pavitra Singh, CHRO, PepsiCo India said “Dare to Do More has been recognised as an innovative platform that ignites and encourages creativity and fresh thinking over the years. After a fiercely competitive presentation and evaluation by the jury, team Rajdhani Express emerged as the winner and am confident that they will bring even greater laurels to India by winning the AMESA finale too, just like Bijayeta Pati did.”
“The FMCG industry has been experiencing several changes wherein the consumers are now opting for different products at affordable price points. These trends made us brainstorm on several ideas, before finalising the one which turned out to be a winner. We would like to thank the jury and are glad that our efforts paid off. We look forward to competing with the winners from Egypt at the Sector finale,” said winning participants of team Rajdhani Express, Khanduja and Kaur.