Ex Puma and Arvind Brands Head Rajiv Mehta appointed as StoveKraft's CEO

StoveKraft, India’s largest privately-held kitchen appliances company, has appointed Rajiv Mehta as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with a view to boost its growth in the cookware and appliance market. Rajiv previously held the position of the Managing Director of Puma and CEO of Arvind Fashion Brands Ltd & Arvind Sports Lifestyle Ltd, and comes with an experience of establishing multi-million dollar companies in the retail sector. In his new role with StoveKraft, the seasoned professional will be responsible for driving profitable growth, enhancing brand equity, attracting top talent, strengthening the trust within the community of consumers and distributors and increasing the reach for the brands Pigeon, Pigeon LED, Gilma and Black + Decker for StoveKraft.

Rajiv has achieved many milestones in his illustrious career, from bagging the Global Youth Marketing Award for Youth Marketer of the Year in his early years to emerging as one of the 40 under 40 leaders presented by Economic Times and Fortune India.

During his 2.5-year with Arvind Brands, he improved the performance of the footwear business for India’s largest Brands’ House – Arvind Ltd.  He also created and marketed apparel brands to be sold primarily online leveraging the back-end supply chain of the world’s largest denim producer – Arvind Ltd. Rajiv was with Puma as its India MD for 9 years taking the brand to the #1 spot in the country. After a MSE in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, Rajiv pursued a MBA degree from INSEAD, Singapore.

Related: Growing Market of Kitchen Appliances in Franchise Sector

Sharing his insights into the latest development, Mr. Rajendra Gandhi, Chairman & Managing Director, StoveKraft, said, “It gives us great pleasure to welcome Rajiv as the CEO. He is an esteemed entrepreneur who has shown deep expertise in defining and executing high-impact growth strategies. He is well-acquainted with the working culture of large global brands, which puts him at the right position to take charge of reinforcing StoveKraft’s position as the market leader in the FMCD space.”

“Rajiv has the ability and experience on how to empower big teams, scale the business quickly and build effective brand-building strategies. Our primary focus is on building customer trust and making StoveKraft the one-stop-shop for quality cookware and appliances. We are confident that under Rajiv’s guidance, we will continue to set new benchmarks,” he added.

Expressing his delight about the appointment, Rajiv Mehta, commented, “StoveKraft has emerged as one of India’s most preferred kitchen appliance company with its unwavering commitment to making quality products accessible to all. Today, StoveKraft’s brand, Pigeon is synonymous with high quality yet affordable kitchen products. The fact that the brand is equally strong in tier I, tier II and tier III cities in India further emphasizes their cause. I am truly delighted to be associated with StoveKraft and hope to turn this brand into a household name.”