STAMFORD, Conn. — Philip Morris International (PMI) has established a category management structure for its smoke-free and combustible cigarettes business to accelerate the delivery of a smoke-free future.
PMI’s Chief Consumer Officer Stefano Volpetti has been appointed to president of the smoke-free products category and chief consumer officer. Werner Barth, previously PMI’s senior vice president commercial, has been appointed president of the combustibles category and global combustibles marketing.
“We are introducing a category management structure to further unlock and enhance PMI’s growth as the company accelerates toward a smoke-free future, ensuring that we remain focused, delivering on what matters, seamlessly—faster, with better quality and improved cost,” said PMI's CEO Jacek Olczak. “Stefano and Werner are leaders of exceptional caliber, and I have every confidence that they will succeed in their new roles, working closely together to achieve a smoke-free future.”
The leadership appointments were effective on Nov. 1. The new category management structure ensures greater end-to-end accountability from development to deployment. Volpetti and Barth will become the strategic owners of each category and will work with the regions to achieve PMI’s business targets, the company said.
“Establishing a global end-to-end category view will be fundamental in further driving our smoke-free products’ growth trajectory, fostering consumer centricity and leveraging the strengths of our markets and regions as we work together to deliver on our smoke-free future ambitions,” Volpetti said.
Since 2016, PMI has undergone a major business transformation, moving away from cigarettes and other combustible tobacco products in favor of smoke-free alternatives that are a better choice than continued smoking, the company said. It is aiming to be a majority smoke-free company in terms of net revenues by the end of 2025.
PMI has also announced its new corporate headquarters will open summer 2022 in Stamford, Conn. The move is a notable component of PMI’s transformation to a smoke-free company, PMI said.
“We are making rapid progress toward our smoke-free future,” Deepak Mishra, president of the Americas Region at PMI, said. “And our new base in Connecticut is more than just an office building—it will be a full campus with a state-of-the-art innovation facility that will help accelerate our transformation.”
The 71,484-square-foot headquarters office will open as a home to the PMI Americas region and other corporate functions. PMI’s Operations Center will remain in Lausanne, Switzerland. The company employs more than 71,000 people worldwide.
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