ATLANTA — Two senior leaders are retiring from The Coca-Cola Co.
Senior Vice President and Chief Growth Officer Francisco Crespo and Senior Vice President and General Counsel Bernhard Goepelt will retire in 2020, according to the company.
Crespo has had a three-decade career with the Atlanta-based beverage company. He joined the company in 1989 and took on the newly created position of chief growth officer in May 2017, in which he focused on building a global community across the company’s operations that was instrumental in driving how the company goes to market, according to Coca-Cola. He will remain with the company through June 30 as a senior strategic adviser.
“Francisco has played a critical role in the success of our company in recent years, especially in helping develop a growth strategy that has become thoroughly embedded in our operations and our culture,” said James Quincey, chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola. “He leaves an important legacy of helping make us more focused on fast-changing consumer needs at a critical time.”
Goepelt has been with Coca-Cola since 1992 and has worked as general counsel for eight years. He’ll be with the company through February before returning to his native Germany to focus on family obligations. The company said it will name a successor to Goepelt at a later date.
Other structural changes, effective Jan. 1, 2020, that Coca-Cola will make to its global growth organization include:
- Manolo Arroyo, who started with Coke in 1995, will be chief marketing officer in addition to continuing his role as president of the company’s Asia Pacific Group. Integrated global marketing will report to him.
- Corporate strategy will report to CFO John Murphy.
- Customer and commercial operations will report to President and COO Brian Smith.
“We know consumer needs are changing faster and faster, and it is critical for the company to be agile in how it responds and adapts,” Quincey said. “Manolo’s dual leadership over operations and marketing is a new structure for us, and we anticipate that it will evolve in the months ahead. Manolo’s focus will range from developing work that can be used around the globe to supporting local campaigns.”
Coca-Cola offers more than 500 brands in more than 200 countries and territories. In addition to the Coca-Cola brand, its portfolio includes AdeS, Ayataka, Costa, Dasani, Del Valle, Fanta, Georgia, Gold Peak, Honest, innocent, Minute Maid, Powerade, Simply, smartwater, Sprite, vitaminwater and Zico.
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