Raj has had a career spanning over 30 years, working mostly in the agricultural sector across various emerging markets in different capacities. He joined Olam International Limited in 1993 in Nigeria and since then, has been a part of Olam’s operations in India, Vietnam, China & Former Soviet Union countries.
Besides mentoring the senior leadership team, his main role in these geographies included: start-up operations, initiating & executing investment proposals, project management, integration of acquired companies, scaling operations across geographies, executing a turnaround strategy, providing oversight on process design and risk management framework, federal government interface, providing a vision & strategy for various geographies, training & aligning teams.
During his stint at Olam, Raj has had exposure to different parts of the agricultural value chain such as large-scale commercial & dairy farming, establishing procurement & distribution networks of various agricultural commodities, and both primary & mid-stream processing of various agri-commodities, besides oversight of a private label packaging business. His role at Olam required managing various original functions such as Operations, Finance & Accounts, Risk Management, Internal Audit, Legal, IT & HR.
30+ years of experience, mostly in the agricultural sector, looking after start-up operations, project management, scaling operations, providing a vision & strategy for various geographies, and training & aligning teams.
Current Role & Responsibilities
Raj is the president of IFAMA (International Food & Agribusiness Management Association), a global not-for-profit organisation based in the United States. He was recognised as a ‘Fellow’ in 2019 for his contributions to IFAMA. Currently, he is an independent director at Mcleod Russel, the largest tea plantation company with plantation assets in multiple countries. He also works as an agriculture consultant with Auctus Advisors.
Prior Experience
- Sr. Vice President, Regional Head – Russia, Ukraine & CIS at Olam International Limited.
- A member of OPCOM, a committee of top management at Olam. Raj was a key resource person for the various internal training programs conducted by Olam.
- Part of the ISAP mentor & advisor group focusing on agribusiness startup funding & incubation in India.
- A board member of Souzmolko, a body which represents dairy farmers & dairy processors in Russia.
- Selected by the Who’s Who Historical society to include him in their International Who’s Who Professional directory for the year 2011.
- Part of various Singapore trade delegations to Russia & Belarus.
Education
Raj has a dual post-graduate degree in Economics and Business Management and has completed AMP (Advanced Management Program) from Harvard Business School in Boston, USA