AS CHIEF executive of pladis, Salman Amin leads 16,000 colleagues across the global biscuit and confectionery business. Amin took the reins of pladis, whose brands include McVitie’s, Jaccob’s, Carr’s and Godiva, in February 2019, and he has been credited with reviving the company. He had less than a year there under his belt before the cataclysm of the pandemic and lockdown hit the market. Covid-19, however, left this graduate of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management unfazed, and pladis has seen its brands go from strength to strength during the pandemic and beyond, adapting to changing consumer preferences, especially in the context of the lingering cost of living crisis in the UK. “It’s a very challenging time for consumers in the UK. The cost of living crisis is all too real. We’ve seen our input costs increase with inflationary pressures across our supply chain, and have absorbed these where possible, to minimise price increases for consumers,”
Amin tells GG2 Power List. “We’re very fortunate that people love what we bake – they bring happiness after all. And despite the tough economic environment, sales trends from around the world reflect the desire for people to seek moments of happiness and to connect with loved ones – often over a cup of tea and a biscuit. We saw this throughout the Covid pandemic, and snacks and treats continue to form an important part of the weekly shop.” Amin says they are continuing to see growth and demand for premium products, and through their global brands, such as artisanal chocolatier Godiva, pladis is well-placed to deliver at the luxury end of the market as well. “This trend is also accompanied by rapid changes in health expectations and a continued focus on product sustainability. “These are priorities for me and my leadership team and we’re ensuring pladis continues to meet these evolving consumer needs and play a positive role in the world around us,” he adds. The business has seen great progress in these areas, particularly sustainability, over the past five years, focusing on three areas – carbon, sourcing and plastics, and with roadmaps to deliver its commitments. “We are using experts to help us realise these ambitions. For example, we are a member of the Earthworm Foundation and we have worked closely with them to increase the value we create across our supply chain, particularly in the ways we work with our wheat and cocoa farmers,” Amin explains. “From helping to develop regenerative farming practices, to improving traceability across our supply chain and supporting the communities we operate in through school rebuild programmes and local investment schemes, the additional steps we take are both extensive, and ongoing. We also invited the Carbon Trust to come and audit every pladis site to map our Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and have set up science based targets.” He has also made great efforts to put diversity and inclusion at the top of the agenda, setting the tone for his team to lead the way. In 2021, Amin convened a global external advisory board made up of established leaders in the field of inclusion and diversity to support pladis’ journey to build a vibrant, inclusive and diverse workforce. “The global advisory board has been a game changer for us – really instrumental in ensuring we’re challenging ourselves, holding each other to account, bringing in fresh outside thinking, asking ourselves the difficult questions,” he says. His mission is to make pladis a place where people can be themselves and bring the best of themselves to work.
“We’ve got a lot going on, but here are a couple of examples… We’re increasing representation of women at all senior levels, and a group of really terrific female leaders formed the first cohort of our new leadership development programme. And we’ve been training all our managers in inclusive leadership, and supporting them to recognise unconscious bias and to promote inclusive ways of working,” he says. “Like every business there’s always more to do. But we’ve made great progress. There is no final destination when it comes to EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion). It’s a continuously evolving journey where we must be mindful and acknowledging of the many differences between us all.
” Originally training as an engineer, his career took a different turn and has been dedicated to Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies, Proctor & Gamble, PepsiCo and S.C. Johnson with roles across marketing and operations. “My roles have been largely split between the UK and the US. Being able to work across two such important but very different geographies has challenged me to accept and indeed seek out different view, opinions and experiences,” he says. “I’m a great believer that you need to feel a little uncomfortable in order to push yourself to grow, and that’s what I’ve always tried to do, for myself and those who I work with.” His life journey would attest to that. Amin went to the US after finishing A-levels in Lahore, Pakistan, where his family lived, to study civil engineering at Syracuse University. He completed his degree and looked set on a conventional path – he was labouring in the field, or under the field to be more exact, wearing hi-vis and hard hat. But, he knew he wanted to go in a different direction and decided to go and study business at the Kellogg School. After completing business school, Amin joined Procter and Gamble, where he would stay for a decade, working in several countries – he has lived and worked in the US, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and the UK – managing brands.
His positions, including marketing director, covered multiple consumer categories including hair care, paper products and food. The experience he gained at P&G primed him for later adventures, including 17 years at PepsiCo, where he rose to become global chief marketing officer, fine-tuning one of the widest and most recognisable brand stables in the world. During his time at PepsiCo, which included five years as president of UK & Ireland business, followed by four years as global chief marketing officer, Amin developed and marketed its snacks portfolio across the world, while also driving forward its ‘front-of-pack’ labelling initiative – high-visibility panels which display information about a product’s nutrition and ingredients, to help consumers make healthier choices and avoid chronic diseases. Before his latest appointment at pladis, Amin was in post as chief operating officer of the global commercial division of US chemicals giant SC Johnson & Son. As he completes five years at pladis, he says the business has many things that set it apart. “Take our brands. I’m a strong believer in the power and importance of brands. And pladis is custodian of iconic, loved brands including McVitie’s, Jaccob’s, Carr’s and Godiva,” he says.
“This is an incredible privilege. It’s also an awesome responsibility –ensuring these histor[1]ic brands remain firm favourites across generations, while also growing by responding to the latest and emerging preferences and trends.” He relies on consumer in[1]sights and R&D to achieve this: gathering data to drive product innovation and using the latest technologies to develop new flavour profiles. “And, of course, pladis is home to an extraordinary breadth and depth of expertise right across our global operations. There is such dedication across our company to bring happiness to millions of consumers around the world; from bakers, chocolatiers, scientists and chefs, pladis has an unrivalled global team,” he adds. Amin who is a fervent advocate of inclusion and empowering young talent, says he always values those with a clear point of view, and approaches everything with a sense of excitement and hope. His mantra is: “Don’t dismiss something until you’ve taken the time to really understand it.
Appreciate where others are ‘coming from’ and see things from their perspective. Have the courage to try something new – and learn from the experience whether it works out or not!” It is these principles that helped him bag the CEO of the Year Award at the 2022 GG2 Leadership and Diversity Awards, presented to an ‘individual who has demonstrated outstanding leadership, brings about change and builds a culture of belonging and inclusion across their organisation’. In his acceptance speech, Amin said: “At pladis we are on a journey which we believe is focussed on parity, equity and on being a perpetual learning organisation. We believe that building inclusion, shapes the right culture and, we are determined to build an inclusive company.” He is a life member of the global advisory board of his business alma mater, the Kellogg School of Management, and sits on the board of ITV plc as well. He is a former board member of the Grocery Manufacturers Association and The Elizabeth Arden Company. In 2009, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from De Montfort University in Leicester. Amin’s is a voice we can predict will increasingly be heard in both business and culture.
And Amin’s is an important voice, for diversity and inclusion in the workforce as much as market acumen. “I think a diverse and inclusive company will almost always deliver better business results,” he told the GG2 Power List previously. “You don’t have to take my word for it. There have been a number of studies that have been done, which show how when boards and management teams and managers are made up of di[1]verse individuals, in an inclusive company with diversity of ideas as well – as a way of thinking – those businesses always prosper economically.”
“I think it’s the case for doing what’s right, because I believe we are better when we resemble the populations that we serve. And we are better because we understand those populations better then, and deliver better results,” he added. Amin admits to being an “enthusiastic but average” golfer and also enjoys scuba diving. He is married to Neelum and to get and together they have two sons and live in London.