PepsiCo Taps Walmart Exec to Head Food Business

PepsiCo, the world’s largest snack-food maker, named Brian Cornell CEO of its Americas foods business as part of a new global structure.

Mr. Cornell, a former PepsiCo executive, was most recently president and CEO of Sam’s Club, a division of Walmart Stores. John Compton, CEO of the Americas foods segment, was named president of PepsiCo, a new position.

Mr. Cornell’s experience at Walmart may help PepsiCo in its effort to maximize its snacks portfolio with retailers. He will report to PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and oversee brands including Frito-Lay North America, Quaker Foods and Snacks North America. During his previous stint at PepsiCo, Mr. Cornell ran Tropicana and was president-PepsiCo beverages Europe, Africa. Mr. Cornell has also served as chief marketing officer at Safeway.

Mr. Compton will continue to report to Ms. Nooyi in his role overseeing global beverages and snacks. He will also be responsible for global operations, including IT, procurement, supply chain and productivity.

“Today marks an important and essential step in PepsiCo’s journey to continue to deliver sustainable growth,” Ms Nooyi said in a statement. “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.”

PepsiCo last month announced plans to cut 8,700 jobs and boost marketing spending for brands by as much as $600 million. It intends to boost marketing of its snack brands 35%.

– Bloomberg

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Posted by WoodlawnPost on Mar 14 2012. Filed under Produce. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.