PepsiCo US management shake-up as Frito-Lay boss Greco leaves

PepsiCo has announced a senior management shake-up following the departure of Frito-Lay North America chief Tom Greco.

Al Carey, CEO of the company’s North America Beverages (NAB) division, has been promoted to the new role of CEO North America and will oversee NAB, Frito-Lay North America (FLNA) and Quaker Foods North America.

PepsiCo said bringing its three North America businesses under a single leader would unlock new growth opportunities by further leveraging “its complementary brand portfolio across snacks, beverages and nutrition ”.

Meanwhile, FLNA chief operating officer Vivek Sankaran has been promoted to president and COO of FLNA and will lead all aspects of PepsiCo's Frito-Lay snacks business in North America, reporting to Carey.

Kirk Tanner, COO for NAB and president of global foodservice, has been promoted to president and COO for NAB and will lead PepsiCo's beverage business in North America, also reporting to Carey.

Greco is leaving PepsiCo to become CEO of an unnamed business believed to be outside the food and drinks industry.

Greco: 30-year PepsiCo veteran

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Tom Greco

He has been with Pepsico for 30 years and has led Frito-Lay since September 2011. He has held positions including executive vice president and chief commercial officer for Pepsi Beverages Company, executive vice president of sales for NAB and president of global sales for PepsiCo.

Before joining PepsiCo he worked at Procter & Gamble.

" Tom has been a strong and valued leader inside PepsiCo for more than three decades, and has made lasting contributions to our business ,” said PepsiCo chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi.

He leaves FLNA in great shape. We thank him for his service and wish him nothing but the best as he begins a new chapter in his career .”

Frito-Lay revenue and profit up

Announcing its full year results in February, PepsiCo reported overall revenue was down 5% year on year to $63bn, which the company said was a result of a 10 percentage-point unfavorable impact from foreign exchange, with organic revenue up 5%. Overall operating profit fell 13% year on year to $8.4bn.

Frito-Lay had benefited from improved productivity and lower commodity costs in the past 12 months, said the company, with net revenue from the Frito-Lay North America division up 2% year on year to $14.8bn in the 12 months to December 26, 2015, with operating profit up 6% to $4.3bn.

PepsiCo shake-up: who's who

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Al Carey

Carey is a 35-year veteran of PepsiCo and has held various senior roles across snacks, beverages and foodservice, including CEO of FLNA, COO of PepsiCo Beverages and Foods North America. He has also been SVP of Sales for Pepsi-Cola North America, COO of FLNA, president of FLNA's West business unit, and general manager of FLNA Foodservice.

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Vivek Sankaran

Sankaran joined PepsiCo seven years ago and has held senior leadership positions including chief commercial officer for PepsiCo North America, chief customer officer for FLNA, SVP and general manager of FLNA's South business unit, and SVP of corporate strategy and development. Before joining PepsiCo he was a partner at McKinsey.

Kirk Tanner

Tanner has worked in 11 domestic and international locations during his PepsiCo career and has held leadership roles across sales, operations, customer marketing, distribution and channel development.