Management

Ram Bajekal is our Managing Director, leading a team of enthusiastic "FMFers" determined to make the company "the most admired in the region".

Ram is a Chartered Accountant from India and a Fulbright Fellow in Management Studies from the Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA. He has spent most of his working life in India with diverse organizations such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Hindusthan Photo Films, Unilever Group and the Murugappa Group; in Fiji he has worked previously with the Carpenters Group. After 25 years of what he calls corporate sector 'rat race', Ram took a three-year sabbatical to work in rural India with Traidcraft Exchange, a UK based NGO imparting business skills to low-income communities engaged in micro-enterprise. A large part of his work involved capacity building among farmer groups to help them get a fair deal in the value chain. He says he thoroughly enjoyed the stint for its positive impact on people - "and the fact that I didn’t have to wear a business suit !". He says it was only his fondness for Fiji and the life-work balance it provides that allowed him to return to the corporate world.

His goal is to progressively make hierarchy irrelevant at FMF, insisting it is people that are important, not their official positions. The greatest challenge of his job he says, is taking decisions that may adversely affect some people but are necessary for the greater good.

Job stress seldom troubles him because he gives it "only as much seriousness as it deserves in the wheel of life”. It also helps that he plays sports (hockey, cricket, golf & badminton), listens to traditional jazz and Indian classical music and reads non-fiction books.

He speaks eight languages – and now knows most, nay, all Fijian swear words.

He hopes to succeed in his dream of building an institution where every single individual feels a sense of worth, a sense of belonging and a sense of achievement.

Anuj Patel

Anuj Patel comes to work in the Walu Bay, Suva, Fiji FMF headquarters office – but his job takes him global. He is the Group General Manager, a job that mainly involves group procurement. He faces daily challenges to find the best places and the right people from whom to purchase the best quality raw materials, packaging, services and other needs of the company in a competitive global market -- and that’s not particularly straightforward for a group like FMF. He has been with FMF for over 25 years and counts working for the company as his greatest career achievement. Working with a team of five, his vision of the future is to achieve an even better global networking structure. Anuj is a person with a serious job and some serious interests. He likes to read non-fiction books and helping people on a personal level (while keeping a low profile).

He likes all the products FMF produces, but especially Scotch Finger biscuits because they are such good quality. As for the greatest challenge he has faced in his career, “they are too many to mention.”

Sandeep Kumar joined FMF Foods Limited in 2015 as Chief Financial Offer and Company Secretary. His area ofresponsibilities includes corporate finance, corporate planning, risk management and corporate laws. He has over 18 years of experience in sectors ranging from manufacturing, IT enabled services, education services and FMCG industries in India. Sandeep’s forte and joy lies in advising on financial issues and building a strong system based work environment. He is the fun to work with CFO who believes in grooming an efficient team that smiles and works together. He too passionately shares the vision of making FMF the ‘most admired company in the South Pacific and oceanic region’.

Sandeep is a qualified Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and a qualified Company Secretary from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.) from India.

He de-stresses by listening to music and singing old Bollywood songs. He also enjoys playing chess and badminton

Daniel Lal is the latest addition to FMF Foods, joining the team as Head of Sales – North/West. Having worked in sales across the energy, petroleum and logistics sectors in Fiji and aboard, Dan brings with him years of experience and know-how. Implementing a strategy of out of the box thinking, quick action and always little bit of fun, he hopes to build a robust, energetic and successful sales team in the Western and Northern Divisions of Fiji. What’s more, he hopes to personally contribute to FMF’s continual growth, in engaging new and untapped markets in his regions and one day see FMF Foods become Fiji and the Pacific’s favourite food company.

Aside from being a sales maestro Dan enjoys sports, particularly Squash, having represented Fiji in 2001 at Mini South Pacific Games as well as heading the Fiji Squash Team as Manager for the South Pacific Games in 2003 and a stint as President Lautoka Football Association in 1998. 

Flour Mills is the oldest operation in FMF Foods and in many ways the backbone of some of its other businesses. Jimi Taniela joined FMF in October 1994 and has served in various department within the organization within the group. He looks after the operation of milling right from procuring prime Australian wheat and ensuring its proper storage in FMF's enormous silos, to its high quality milling for consistency. His production provides 80% of Fiji with Flour for households, bakeries and hotels. Apart from milling of flour Jimi also manages Pea Industries and Rice Company of Fiji. So you could say Jimi is the grains expert in FMF. An MBA from the Graduate School of Business, University of South Pacific he enjoys the challenge of making sure the country never runs short of staple food.