ATLANTA -- The Coca-Cola Co. announced leadership changes that could help the company continue to move its focus to noncarbonated beverages as carbonated-soft-drink (CSD) sales continue to lag.
J. Alexander “Sandy” Douglas Jr. will retire as president of Coca-Cola North America (CCNA) after 29 years with the company. He will be succeeded by James L. “Jim” Dinkins, who currently serves as president of the Minute Maid Business Unit and chief retail sales officer for CCNA.
Douglas, who joined Coca-Cola in 1988, has been a driving force in transforming CCNA for long-term, sustainable success, according to the company. Under Douglas’ leadership, "CCNA has reinvigorated growth in core sparkling beverages while also expanding the group’s total beverage portfolio," the company said.
Dinkins also started his career with the company in 1988. He was promoted to his current position earlier this year and will begin his new duties Jan. 1, 2018, reporting to Coca-Cola president and CEO James Quincey. To ease the transition, Douglas will retire from the company on March 1, 2018.
“Our North American business has been thriving and is well positioned for continued success,” Quincey said. “Sandy Douglas has done a tremendous job of leading CCNA to a strong position. Jim Dinkins is a highly experienced, respected executive who will lead Coca-Cola North America as it continues to evolve and grow.”
Bonnie Herzog, managing director of consumer equity research for Wells Fargo Securities LLC, New York, said she's generally optimistic about the leadership change.
"We believe [Dinkins'] strong leadership of a key part of the non-CSD portion of Coca-Cola's portfolio will support Coke's (relatively) new CEO Quincey and his goal to reclassify Coca-Cola Co. as a total beverage company, not just one reliant and focused on CSDs," she said in a research note. "Further, we would expect Dinkins' strong experience with the retail trade will help Coca-Cola remain relevant to all of its U.S. retail partners."
As president of CCNA’s Minute Maid Business Unit, Dinkins leads a team that produces, sells, markets and distributes Coca-Cola's juice, natural health beverages, chilled tea and value-added dairy brands. He is also chief retail sales officer for CCNA, leading a team that manages strategic relationships with global and national customers across the grocery, mass, club, drug, value, convenience and e-commerce channels in the United States.
Previously, Dinkins served in a variety of leadership roles with Coca-Cola, including senior vice president, sales in National Retail Sales for select grocery, club and convenience retail customers. He was also president of the 7-Eleven Global Customer Team.
Over the last decade, Douglas, who is also an executive vice president of the Coca-Cola Co., has worked with the Coca-Cola system to transform CCNA into a total beverage company, the company said, with a focus on growing value across an increasingly wide variety of products and packages. Douglas and the company’s bottling partners have worked together to steward the largest bottler refranchising initiative in the Coca-Cola system’s history. He will retire from the company as the North American refranchising process nears completion, putting North American bottling operations in the hands of a diverse set of highly capable owners who are best positioned to serve local customers and communities.
“I am incredibly grateful to James Quincey and everyone within our North American system for giving me the opportunity to lead our business through a period of phenomenal change,” Douglas said.
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