Indian-origin biz leader Vipul Chawla appointed as group CEO of Singapore’s FairPrice Group

Chawla, 54, will take over from group CEO Seah Kian Peng on April 5 this year, The Straits Times newspaper reported on Thursday, citing a statement from FairPrice Group and and its parent group National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Enterprise.

Chawla will continue the efforts of Seah to accelerate the growth of FairPrice’s physical stores and online retail, supported by a robust supply chain strategy, the company said in a statement.

He has held leadership roles in Fortune 500 companies in the consumer goods (Unilever) and food services industries.

As president of Pizza Hut International since 2018, the US-based Chawla oversaw markets in more than 100 countries with a combined revenue of USD 7.5 billion, and was able to navigate the company through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chawla has been involved with the labour movement in the past as part of NTUC’s “U Circle of Friends” to promote the talent pool here. He has also worked with local food banks to assist those in need, said the statement.

He holds a postgraduate degree in management studies from S P Jain Institute of Management and Research at Bombay University.

Seah, who currently fulfils the dual role of chief executive at NTUC Enterprise and FairPrice Group, will now focus on driving growth across NTUC Enterprise’s social enterprise clusters, the statement said.

NTUC Enterprise is the holding entity and single largest shareholder of the labour movement’s social enterprises, including NTUC FairPrice, NTUC First Campus, NTUC Foodfare, Kopitiam, NTUC Health, NTUC Income and NTUC LearningHub.