Asia-Pacific Power List 2023: Kaajal Shivdasani, General Mills

Kaajal Shivdasani

Marketing director, global emerging markets
General Mills
Singapore

Kaajal Shivdasani leads General Mills’ marketing teams across emerging markets, including Asia, the Middle East & Africa and Latin America, excluding China and Brazil. It’s a wide 

Mandate, responsible for such well-known food brands as Häagen-Dazs ice cream, Nature Valley granola bars, Old El Paso tacos and Betty Crocker bake mixes. 

Shivdasani was promoted to the role in 2021 after first working with marketing teams across Southeast Asia during the prior year, to grow General Mills' presence and brand awareness across retail, shops and food services. It was a dual role as she was also the brand leader for  Häagen-Dazs across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The ice cream brand was one of Shivdasani’s responsibilities earlier in her career at General Mills, so the brand has always held special meaning for her. Under her leadership in Asia, Häagen-Dazs has consistently retained the top market share in the ice cream category in Hong Kong and Singapore and the top share in premium ice cream in Korea and Taiwan.

Shivdasani also takes pride in seizing opportunities with new product launches and innovations. When Covid hit in 2020 creating an unprecedented and unexpected surge in consumer demand, she turned adversity into opportunity and launched new chocolate products to satisfy everyone’s cravings while nesting.

In fact, she’s launched three successful brands from scratch throughout her career, and made a brand public. An enabler for brands entering new markets, Shivdasani is known for doing her homework, conscious of each consumer audience she targets, choosing her price points,  channels and communications carefully while complying with local regulations and customs.

Over the past year, she has focused on building connected commerce capabilities and measurement systems, including running pilots and new launches like the Pillsbury Bakers of India app.

Meanwhile, Shivdasani’s recent marketing drives include launching the Masterpiece campaign across the global emerging markets and tapping into popular culture at events and activations. Examples include the Häagen-Dazs ‘Melting Moments’ collaborative art experience in Korea and partnerships at the Affordable Art Fair in Singapore. Combining art and festivity, the brand also collaborated with the Louvre Museum to launch mooncakes during the Mid Autumn Festival in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Shivdasani is not only a marketer, but also an angel investor and mentor for entrepreneurship. As a board member of several start-ups in Southeast Asia, she advises them on their marketing and launch strategies, helping to recruit and develop their marketing talent. She also mentors female entrepreneurs on how to market and launch their brands. 

Shivdasani started her marketing career almost 20 years ago at Yes Bank, India before joining General Mills in 2008 to work on Häagen-Dazs and Old El Paso. Moving to Singapore in 2011 she gained wider experience at Publicis Groupe, Ferrero, and Cereal Partners Worldwide (Nestlé & General Mills) as head of innovation for AMEA.