Tata Starbucks' CEO Avani Davda ranked 13 in Fortune's groundbreaking women list

By PTI 

New York: Avani Davda, CEO, Tata Starbucks is the only Indian featured in Fortune and Food & Wine's list of 25 ‘most groundbreaking’ women who are changing the way people eat and think about food.

Davda, ranked 13 on the 'The Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink' list, leads the joint venture between the American coffee giant and its partner Tata Global Beverages in India. In less than two years, Davda has opened 52 stores across major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, and Chennai. Fortune said Davda, 34, has balanced Starbucks staples like Frappuccinos with local offerings.

Her team launched an India-sourced and roasted coffee, called India Estates Blend to mark Starbucks' first anniversary in the country. Fortune and its Time Inc sister publication Food & Wine spent months searching for the ‘most groundbreaking women in the food and drink world’.

The publication said the women on list may not operate at the same scale as the big industry players such as PepsiCo's India-born CEO Indra Nooyi and Mondelez International CEO Irene Rosenfeld, who are regulars on Fortune's Most Powerful Women in Business ranking. But this group is permanently changing the way we eat and how we think about food. Now that's power in its own right.

The list also includes United Nations World Food Programme Executive Director Ertharin Cousin, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, Global Vice President of Quality Standards at American foods supermarket chain Whole Foods Margaret Wittenberg, TV personality and author Rachael Ray, cookware and gourmet food giant Williams-Sonoma CEO Laura Alber and Rural Outreach Africa founder Ruth Oniang'o amongst other.