Ravi Makwana joins Vadilal as chief marketing officer

AHMEDABAD: Vadilal industries has roped in Ravi Makwana as chief marketing officer, handing the reins of its brand engine to a marketer shaped by some of India’s biggest consumer franchises, just as the ice-cream battle turns ferocious.

Makwana steps in at a moment of intensifying competition, with incumbents turning aggressive and challengers inventing new formats and categories. At vadilal, he will steer brand strategy, product innovation and go-to-market muscle as the company sharpens its play in a rapidly expanding market.

Before this move, Makwana was category head at Zydus Wellness. Earlier, he served as chief marketing officer at Tim Hortons India, part of the seed team that brought the global coffee chain to the country, leading marketing and product from the ground up. He also spent nearly four years at Tata consumer products, rising through roles from head of brand to marketing director, overseeing flagship brands such as Tata salt and managing large portfolios with full P&L responsibility.

His earlier career spans over six years at Asian Paints across brand and sales leadership roles, where he managed businesses worth over Rs 2,000 crore and drove double-digit growth in competitive markets. Makwana began his professional journey at accenture before switching lanes decisively to consumer marketing.

At Vadilal, he will work closely with managing director Himanshu Kanwar and a board comprising Shiv Shivakumar, Nagarajan Sivaramakrishnan, Shalini Raghavan, Gaurav Marathe, Rajesh Gandhi, Devanshu G and Janmajay Gandhi.

With nostalgia on his side and a bruising market ahead, Makwana’s mandate is clear: make Vadilal louder, sharper and harder to beat—one scoop at a time.