The current managing director, Rajeev Bakshi, will be leaving the company on his appointment as managing director of Cadbury South Africa, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Mr Bakshi, who took over at the helm in early 1998, set out a vision to achieve "a Cadbury in every pocket" dream by increasing the penetration of chocolates, largely as an impulse product in India. Mr Bakshi was earlier the marketing director at Cadbury India before he took over as managing director, after a short stint at the company's London headquarters.

Under his leadership, Cadbury India managed to launch one major product every year - to fulfill the aim of not only increasing penetration, but also making chocolate eating a "snacking" category to enhance adult consumption.

Mr Bakshi had also outlined the growth chart for Cadbury India to achieve a volume growth of 12 per cent per annum on a value growth of 20 per cent over the next three years.

The company witnessed the launch of brands such as Frutus, Gollum, Byte, Cadbury Gold, and also the rejuvenation of the flagship brand, Cadbury Dairy Milk. The company's e-commerce initiatives, which Mr Bakshi kickstarted, are expected to be fulfilled under the leadership of the new managing director. On expansion of the consumer base, the company is driving volumes at price points such as Re 1, Rs 3 and Rs 5.