Bio

Sushama Srikandath is the Managing Director of AVT McCormick Ingredients P Ltd., a Rs.700 Crore Joint Venture between McCormick & Company, Inc. USA & A.V. Thomas Group, India. An alumnus of St. Teresa’s College & School, Kochi and a dual Masters Degree holder in International Affairs and Business Administration from Ohio University, USA, Sushama worked in Ohio for 6 years. On re-locating to Kochi from the US, she joined AVT McCormick in 1994. Today as the MD of AVT McCormick, she provides strategic direction and operational guidance to the ~500 strong team. The company sustainably sources and processes spices, seasonings, and blends—including organic products—for leading global brands, with exports spanning more than 48 countries across five continents.

Based on her passion and drive of improving the quality of life of farmer communities and promoting sustainable agriculture, Sushama envisioned AVT McCormick, a simple, yet powerful value proposition: Helping Nature and Communities. AVT McCormick has sustainable cultivation of ~20,000 MT of spices, directly sourced from a network of 3700 farmers across 300 villages in India. Of this, 18,000MT cultivated in 28,000acres held by 2600 farmers across 250 villages is sustainability certified.

Under her leadership, sustainability and responsible sourcing have become strategic priorities for AVT McCormick, with a strong focus on building resilient and inclusive spice supply chains. She has prioritised public-private partnerships (PPP) as a key approach to scaling sustainable sourcing initiatives, bringing together industry, development partners and farmers to address environmental, social and economic priorities holistically. This vision has led to the establishment of a dedicated Sustainability function and the implementation of long-term programmes, including a five-year partnership with GIZ that provided sustainable agricultural training to around 4,000 farmers across India. In 2023, AVT McCormick also established its first women-led Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) in Barmer, Rajasthan, focused on cumin, strengthening women’s participation and leadership in the spice value chain. Collaborating with Bhume’ a women’s empowerment initiative of St. Teresa’s College, AVT McCormick has provided market access to the small products made by women.

Sushama presently serves as a member of Governing body of St. Teresa’s College (Autonomous) Ernakulam as a “Practicing Professor” to help foster holistic development of the Girl Students to ensure employability. She is a co-opted member of the Regional Governing Council of the Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZ. She was one of a select group from Spice Industry invited to participate in the Chintan Shivir organized by Spices Board (Ministry of Commerce& Industry, GOI) to discuss Quality Improvements and Challenges in Supply Chain. She served as a Jury Member in FICCI National Agri Start Up Awards, and was part of the CII Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture group, leading the subgroup Market Smart. She served as Board Member of American Spice Trade Association, and as Member, Spices Board, Gov. of India, and Member, Food & Agriculture Department Bureau of Indian Standards – Spices. Under her stewardship as Chairperson, All India Spice Exporters Forum (2006-08), she developed a strategic road map for the Indian spice industry. She has received many prestigious awards including Excellence in Business: Hindu Economic Forum 2018, With over 30 years of experience in spice international marketing and regulatory requirements, she is a prolific presenter at spice, and food industry forums…

Sushama’s multicultural experience – living in the USA, travelling to over 30 countries and networking with people from all over the world has helped her to become accepting of people and situations as “just different” – not necessarily “right or wrong”. She owes her grounding, motivation and inspiration in life from her work alongside farmers in rural areas of India, and factory shop floor technicians helping them achieve self-sufficiency in their lives. A life long learner, she now enjoys the opportunity to work with young entrepreneurs in introducing agri-tech in these remote farms that helps improve the health of the farming community. Her work is aimed at making agriculture a worthwhile pursuit for farmers.