Kumar will lead the $2 billion Quaker operating unit, with a portfolio of brands that includes Quaker hot cereals and Chewy granola bars, Cap'n Crunch, Life and Quaker Oatmeal Squares ready-to-eat cereals, Aunt Jemima mixes and syrups, Rice-A-Roni and Near East side dishes, and Quaker's lite snacks. Based in [image-nocss] Chicago, he will report to PepsiCo Americas Foods CEO John Compton.
Since joining PepsiCo in 2005, Kumar has worked with PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America unit, most recently serving as the division's chief marketing officer. While at Frito-Lay, he has transformed the marketing agenda and key organizational capabilitiesdriving innovation by integrating customer sales, marketing and research and development. Under his leadership, the division launched the Crash the Super Bowl consumer promotion for Doritos, which engaged consumers in creating their own TV advertisements that aired on the NFL's Super Bowl. One of those consumer-created entries took the top spot on the USA Today Ad Meter earlier this year, and earned the $1 million prize that came with that honor from Frito-Lay.
Prior to joining PepsiCo's Frito-Lay business, Kumar had 18 years of international and domestic brand management and sales experience with a number of consumer goods companies such as at Kraft Foods.
"Jaya brings a powerful combination of innovation, marketing and retail capabilities to his new role at Quaker," said Compton. "As our global mega-brand for health and wellness, Quaker is the jewel of our good-for-you portfolio of food brands. Jaya's passion for growth, coupled with his deep expertise in consumer and shopping insights, is an unbeatable recipe for taking Quaker through its next chapter of growth."
Succeeding Kumar, Mukherjee will report to Al Carey, FLNA president and CEO. Her consumer-centric programs for Doritos and Cheetos have won several of the highest awards in the advertising industry, including two Cannes Gold Lion Awards, the Grand Ogilvy Award and a Gold Effie Award.
She joined FLNA in 2005 as vice president of marketing, leading the company's total core portfolio. In this role, Mukherjee led the strategic revitalization of the company's $7 billion core brandsLay's, Doritos, Tostitos, Cheetos and Fritos.
Before joining the FLNA team in Plano, Texas, Mukherjee was vice president of marketing insights and innovation for PepsiCo's Convenience Foods, based in Chicago. She spent 12 years in a variety of marketing roles with increasing responsibility at other companies, including Kraft Foods and Diners Club.
"Ann's work with Doritos' Crash the Super Bowlalong with a range of ground-breaking marketing for other FLNA brands, like Cheetos and Tostitoshas set new standards for innovation in consumer brand marketing for our snacks businesses," Carey said. "Ann's strong marketing skills and leadership profile make her the right person for the top marketing role at Frito-Lay."
Frito-Lay NA is the $12 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo. Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo, with more than $43 billion in 2008 revenues, offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 18 different product lines that each generate more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Its main businessesFrito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatoradealso make hundreds of other foods and drinks in more than 200 countries.
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