Oliver Mirza is the Managing Director & CEO of Dr. Oetker India Pvt. Ltd. – a leading purveyor of western sauces and spreads in India and has been successfully managing the company for over 8 years.
An industry veteran with over 25 years of food business experience, Mirza in his current role is responsible for managing and growing the business of Dr. Oetker in the country with full P&L responsibility. He was appointed for this role to set up the India entry strategy through the acquisition of FunFoods and to further define the vision, create culture and build the senior management team. Under his decisive leadership Dr. Oeteker has strengthened the FunFoods sub-brand and is the market leader in the western sauces and spread category in India.
A German by birth and a nutritionist by qualification, he graduated from Germany’s Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences in 1993 and obtained his master’s degree in International Food Marketing from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia/USA. In parallel he started his career with Kambly USA; a premium Swiss biscuit maker. Back in Europe in mid 1999, he joined Tengelmann-Group, a European food retailing giant as a management trainee.
In 1996, he became the Product Manager at H.J. Heinz Germany, responsible for marketing of Heinz Ketchup, Mayonnaise and Sauces. Thereafter he had a short stint at Europe’s No. 1 brand Honey brand, Langnese, before he joined the world’s No. 1 Pasta and Pasta sauce maker, Barilla, where for nearly 8 years he held various senior positions in centeral Europe’s.
Mirza’s profound management, strategizing and marketing skills won him many accolades and recognitions. He is the winner of ‘The 1995 International Marketing Award’ awarded by Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia/USA. He was also honored with the ‘ECR Best Practice Award 2004 for best Category Management in Food, Awarded by GS 1 D-A-CH.
