MAM
Prasuma strengthens its leadership ranks, promotes Lisa Suwal to CEO
Mumbai: Momo brand Prasuma has announced the promotion of Lisa Suwal from chief growth officer to chief executive officer. At the helm of the company, Lisa will now oversee the fast-growing brand’s top-line, bottom-line, profitability, and overall management.
The daughter of Prasuma’s founder Mehendra Suwal, Lisa will also ensure that the company’s mission and vision are thoroughly implemented across its operations.
Having been the driving force behind the launch and resounding success of Prasuma Momos, she brings a wealth of FMCG, e-commerce, dynamic brand building experience, strategic insight, and passion to the CEO position. With strong people management skills and the ability to bring ideas to fruition, Lisa has been viewed as the right person to take the brand’s legacy forward.
“I am thrilled and proud to pass on the mantle of my beloved business to the most capable person I could think of. Coincidentally, she happens to be my daughter,” commented Prasuma founder Mahendra Suwal. “The time is right, the business is on the verge of being ripe. I wish her nothing but the best and am sure that with her leadership this business will reach heights that it has never seen before.”
This year, her first as CEO, Lisa looks forward to driving sales and distribution for the brand by onboarding more retail channels and partners while also unlocking strategic product diversification. In the next five years, she envisions Prasuma becoming a global food brand, bringing joy and nourishment to families, enriching lives with extraordinary food, said the statement.
“Creating categories and launching first to market innovations have been the hallmark of our business. We were (Prasuma) the first ones to bring fresh and chilled deli meats to India and I am proud to have been able to contribute to that tradition with the launch of India’s first and most loved frozen momo Blbrand,” said Lisa Suwal. “I am grateful for this opportunity as I know how valuable it is given the value that I know we will create. I look forward to the journey ahead, more mouthwatering, high quality products, more consumers, and definitely more consumer love. This is just the beginning!”
Launched in 2019, Prasuma Momos has an omnichannel model with distribution across 70 cities. In 2021, on the back of growing consumer demand, the brand’s distribution footprint almost tripled, increasing from 40 to 70 cities. Its retail presence went from 1000 to 5000 stores over the past year. Prasuma is available in all top modern retail chains as well as e-commerce platforms.
MAM
Brands push beyond compliance as trust takes centre stage
ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026 spotlights shift from legal checks to credibility.
MUMBAI: In a world where a disclaimer can be legally sound yet socially suspect, brands are learning that compliance may tick boxes but trust wins markets. At the inaugural ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026, a panel on “Beyond Compliance: The New Currency of Trust” unpacked a growing industry reality: the gap between what the law permits and what consumers accept is widening and fast.
Moderated by Meenakshi Ramkumar of National Law School of India University, the discussion brought together leaders across law, marketing and academia to examine how brands must evolve in a digital ecosystem increasingly shaped by scrutiny, scepticism and speed.
Ramkumar set the tone by highlighting a critical shift, advertising today operates in the same digital space that fuels misinformation, scams and fake news, making credibility harder to establish. “The challenge is not just about what brands do, but the broader context of low institutional trust,” she noted, adding that when violations go unchecked, trust erodes not just in brands but in the regulatory system itself.
This vacuum, she said, has given rise to consumer activism from boycotts to social media backlash as a parallel accountability mechanism.
For Amit Bhasin, Chief Legal Officer at Marico, the distinction was clear, legal compliance is non negotiable, but insufficient. “Compliance is the minimum threshold. The real challenge is staying aligned with changing consumer expectations,” he said.
He pointed to how advertising narratives have evolved from traditional depictions of gender roles to more shared responsibilities reflecting a broader societal shift. “Earlier, it was fine to show one person doing the household work. Today, that may not land well. Consumers expect brands to reflect reality,” Bhasin observed.
He also highlighted internal debates where campaigns that may be legally permissible are still rejected for being culturally insensitive, noting that responsible advertising often requires asking uncomfortable questions before the public does.
If compliance is the baseline, reputation is the battlefield.
Bhasin noted that reputational risk has become a far greater concern than legal exposure, particularly in an era where campaigns can be dissected within hours online. “Earlier, a controversial ad might invite a newspaper editorial. Today, within hours, you’re at the centre of a storm,” he said.
Brands, he added, now evaluate campaigns through a dual lens legal viability and reputational vulnerability with the latter often proving more decisive.
From a healthcare perspective, Satish Sahoo of Cipla Health underscored the complexity of operating within fragmented yet stringent regulatory frameworks, spanning drugs, food, cosmetics and Ayush. “Anything under a drug licence is the most tightly regulated,” he said, adding that this necessitates proactive, not reactive, compliance.
He shared an example from the oral rehydration salts (ORS) category, where Cipla resisted the temptation to position products aggressively despite competitive pressure. “Our product is WHO compliant, and our communication reflects that. We chose not to blur the lines, even if others did,” he noted.
The long term payoff, he suggested, lies in credibility built over consistency, not quick wins.
Yet, as Harsha N of National Law School of India University pointed out, even perfect compliance does not guarantee trust. Drawing from historical and modern examples from exaggerated product claims in the 1800s to contemporary environmental and health advertising, he argued that legal frameworks often lag behind consumer expectations. “A brand can be fully compliant and still be perceived as misleading,” he said, citing instances where fine print disclosures fail to reach or convince the average consumer. He added that larger companies carry a disproportionate responsibility to set ethical benchmarks, even in areas where the law remains silent.
The conversation also turned to digital advertising, where the challenge extends beyond content to how ads are experienced. From algorithmic targeting to personalised messaging, brands now operate in an environment where regulation struggles to keep pace with technology.
Sahoo noted that social media has amplified awareness, with influencers and consumers increasingly scrutinising product claims and calling out inconsistencies. “Awareness has gone up dramatically. People are questioning what goes into products and what brands are saying,” he said.
The role of self regulatory bodies such as Advertising Standards Council of India also came under the spotlight.
Harsha acknowledged that while SROs play a crucial role, they are not immune to criticism, particularly around perceived conflicts of interest and enforcement gaps. “SROs have a higher threshold of responsibility not just to interpret the law, but to anticipate societal expectations,” he said.
He added that failures in self regulation often push the burden back onto government intervention, underscoring the need for stronger, more proactive oversight.
One of the more nuanced debates centred on whether building trust comes at a cost. While Sahoo acknowledged that quality and compliance can increase costs, he argued that companies must absorb them as part of their long term strategy.
Bhasin, however, framed the challenge differently not as cost, but as competitiveness in a market where not all players play by the same rules. “The real tension is when others cut corners and you choose not to,” he said.
The panel concluded with a call to embed trust into business metrics.
Sahoo suggested that organisations must go beyond revenue targets to include consumer equity and trust based KPIs, ensuring that ethical considerations are not sidelined in the pursuit of growth. “Trust sounds abstract, but it can translate into measurable consumer equity,” he said.
As the discussion wrapped up, one message stood out: the rules of advertising are being rewritten not just by regulators, but by consumers themselves. In an ecosystem where attention is fleeting and scepticism is high, brands that merely comply may survive, but those that build trust are the ones that endure.
