Sapphire Foods shuffles its top deck at KFC and Pizza Hut

MUMBAI: Sapphire Foods is reshuffling its senior ranks. Deepak Taluja, president and chief executive of the company’s KFC business, is stepping down after ten years with the group, and the company has wasted no time finding his replacement.

Vikrant Vohra, currently executive vice-president and chief executive of Sapphire’s Pizza Hut business, will take charge of KFC from July 25, 2026. Taluja’s last day is July 24, and he has said he will see out his notice period and assist with the handover. In a letter to the company, he said he counted it a privilege to have served the organisation for a decade and thanked its leadership and teams for their support.

Vohra is not new to the KFC brand. Before taking the helm at Pizza Hut, he oversaw KFC operations across Karnataka, Kerala and west India. He brings nearly two decades of experience in the hospitality sector, having worked with The Park, Hyatt, Taj and Marriott International before joining Sapphire Foods.

With Vohra moving across to KFC, Sapphire has filled the gap at Pizza Hut by elevating Saurabh Girdhar to assistant vice-president and chief operating officer of that business, also from July 25. Girdhar currently serves as chief operating officer for Pizza Hut in Bangalore and Kerala and has more than 17 years in the quick-service restaurant industry, including stints at Yum India and Devyani International.

The reshuffle keeps both leadership slots within the house, a signal that Sapphire is betting on institutional knowledge rather than outside hires to drive its next leg of growth. For Vohra, it is a second bite at the KFC burger. The question now is whether he can make it count.