PURCHASE, N.Y. & ST. LOUIS -- PepsiCo and Anheuser-Busch each named new company leadership to drive overall company growth and sales in convenience stores.
PepsiCo
PepsiCo Inc. announced yesterday a new global structure and strengthened management team, what it called important steps in PepsiCo’s move to become a fully integrated, global food and beverage company.
In the new structure, while the regions retain ownership of the P&L, PepsiCo’s global groups will work across the regions to fully leverage the power and scale of the company. Consistent with this shift, PepsiCo announced the following leadership changes, effective immediately:
- Former PepsiCo executive Brian Cornell has rejoined the company as CEO, PepsiCo Americas Foods. Cornell most recently was president and CEO at Sam’s Club, a division of Wal‐Mart Stores Inc.
- Current PepsiCo Americas Foods CEO John Compton has been named to a new position: president, PepsiCo.
“Today marks an important and essential step in PepsiCo’s journey to continue to deliver sustainable growth,” said PepsiCo chairman and CEO Indra K. Nooyi. “John and Brian are superb executives and will both contribute enormously in their new roles to ensure that we compete effectively and efficiently in the global marketplace.”
As CEO, PepsiCo Americas Foods, Cornell will report to Nooyi and be responsible for Frito‐Lay North America, Quaker Foods & Snacks North America, PepsiCo Mexico, South America Foods, PepsiCo customer teams and all Power of One activities within the Americas.
Cornell has more than 30 years of experience in consumer products marketing and general management. Most recently, he was president and CEO of Sam’s Club, a highly successful division of Wal‐Mart Stores, Inc., where he introduced expanded product offerings and renovated stores throughout the United States.
“Brian’s strategic vision and deep experience across several industries provide a unique perspective to our senior leadership team,” said Nooyi. “He has successfully led transformational agendas at his assignments at Sam’s Club and Safeway and is well‐versed in what it takes to be a senior executive of a large public company. We look forward to his contributions and welcome him back to the PepsiCo family.”
As president, Compton will continue to report to Nooyi and assume responsibility for all of PepsiCo’s existing global category groups (Global Beverages, Global Snacks and Global Nutrition), Global Operations (IT, Global Procurement, Supply Chain and Productivity), Global Marketing Services and Corporate Strategy.
Working with the regional sectors, Compton will be responsible for driving breakthrough innovation, and brand building while looking for ways to significantly reduce the overall cost structure of the company.
“This executive position will serve as a key driver for our long‐term growth strategy,” said Nooyi. “A 28‐year PepsiCo veteran, John brings a unique insight to this critical role. I have absolute confidence in John’s ability to work productively with the sector CEOs to bring about a stepchange for PepsiCo’s growth and profitability.”
PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $65 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales. The company’s main businesses include Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito‐Lay and Pepsi‐Cola.
Anheuser-Busch
Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch yesterday announced personnel changes in its National Retail Sales organization, led by Chris Williams, vice president NRS, which represents 25% of the company's sales volume.
Effective April 2, 2012, Manny Zayas will become the vice president and team lead for Walmart, Sam's Club and Walmart International. Zayas joined the organization last year as vice president of convenience and successfully merged the convenience-store and drug channel to form the Small Format team. His extensive background in sales and category management within snacks, carbonated soft drinks and beer will serve him well in his new role managing our largest customer.
Zayas is replacing Kevin Meegan, who is returning to the position of retail sales director, Region 2. Meegan navigated Anheuser-Busch through a great deal of change over the past 18 months, including a full restructure of the operations and merchandising team, ultimately providing a roadmap for winning in a decentralized Walmart.
And as previously reported in CSP Daily News, Tony Gaines will replace Zayas as vice president of Small Format. Gaines recently joined the organization as senior director of sales managing A-B’s largest convenience customer, 7-Eleven. He spent the first 20 years of his career at E & J Gallo Winery, most recently managing the convenience and drug channels. Tony has a degree in business management from Purdue University and is a National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) board member.
"I look forward to new challenges and continuing the great work that Manny Zayas and his team have done in small format," Gaines said. "I’m committed to continuing to drive his standards on improving the beer business in the channel and the overall business of Anheuser-Busch."
Mike Potthoff will continue in his role as vice president, large format, and Tom Toczylowski remains vice president, on-premise and military.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.