Puma Names Indrajeet Sen to Oversee Sourcing, Operations and Sustainability: 5 Things to Know

Sports apparel and sneaker maker Puma has named Indrajeet Sen as senior VP of Puma Group Sourcing -- which includes responsibility for operations and sustainability.

Here are five things to know about Sen's expertise, and Puma's business and sustainability strategy.

1. Business Scope and Scale: Puma, founded in 1948, is based in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. The company, backed by roughly 18,700 employees as of December 2023, designs and manufactures athletic and casual footwear, apparel and accessories. Puma's annual revenue was €8.6 billion (US$9.54 billion) in 2023, up 1.6% from 2022. Key Puma rivals include Nike, Reebok, Adidas, New Balance and Under Armour.

2. Sustainability Strategy: Puma's "Forever Better" sustainability strategy involves the company's 10for25 targets -- which the company introduced in 2019. The 10 target areas include human rights, climate action, circularity, products, water and air, biodiversity, plastics and the oceans, chemics, health and safety, as well as fair income.

3. Sustainability Goals: Puma is striving for a 35% absolute emission reduction for the company's own entities between 2017 and 2030. Moreover, the company wants to achieve a 60% relative emission reduction for the Puma supply chain between 2017 and 2030. For 2025, the company is seeking to achieve 100% renewable electricity for Puma's entities, and 25% renewable energy for core suppliers.

4. Group Sourcing Role: Indrajeet Sen now oversees Puma's global sourcing and development of footwear, apparel, and accessories, as well as operations and sustainability, the company said. He reports to Puma Chief Product Officer Maria Valdes. Sen essentially succeeds Chief Sourcing Officer Anne-Laure Descours, who has decided not to extend her board contract.

Sen joined Puma in 2016, most recently working as VP of sourcing and development footwear. Earlier, he was a global quality manager at Deichmann.

5. Executive Perspectives: In a prepared statement, Puma CEO Arne Freundt said: "Indy has been instrumental to our success in Footwear. He has excelled in various key roles such as adeptly managing the challenges of the COVID pandemic, diversifying our supply chain, and driving exceptional operational efficiency. Indy’s forward-thinking approach, people-first mindset, and relentless dedication of continuously challenging the status quo make him the ideal leader to spearhead our next phase of growth."

Freundt also thanked Anne-Laure Descours for the "outstanding contributions she has made to PUMA’s business over the past years, especially when it comes to successfully establishing and executing PUMA’s sustainability strategy, which earned PUMA international recognition and awards in this space. I look forward to continuing to work with her as our external advisor in the field of sustainability.”

Chief Sustainability Officers: Why Technology Partners Should Care

By 2027, 25% of Global 2000 companies will have assigned a chief sustainability officer (CSO) responsible for meeting their organization’s ESG goals and making ESG-related IT purchasing decisions, according to IDC.

The bottom line: Technology partners need to extend their sales, marketing, engagement and support strategies to successfully fulfill those CSO customer needs, Sustainable Tech Partner believes.