PepsiCo announced that Kirk Tanner, CEO of the company’s North America beverage business, will leave the company Feb. 2 and will be replaced by Ram Krishnan, who has been with the company since 2006.
Krishnan currently serves as CEO of International Beverages and chief commercial officer for PepsiCo. In these roles he has overseen the company’s Global Concentrate group, Franchise operations, Global Beverage group, SodaStream, Beyond the Bottle, and the Global Commercial organization, which includes, Customer Strategy, Revenue Management, Go-to-Market, E-Commerce, Lipton, Beyond Joint Ventures, and PepsiCo Venturing Group.
Since joining PepsiCo in 2006, Krishnan has held several senior leadership roles, including CEO of PepsiCo’s Asia-Pacific, Australia/New Zealand and China (APAC) region, senior vice president and general manager of PepsiCo’s global Walmart Customer Team, and CMO of Frito-Lay North America. Prior to joining PepsiCo, Krishnan spent six years at Cadillac.
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Krishnan is taking over an important division at PepsiCo, accounting for about 30% of the beverage and snack company’s revenue. “Ram is the ideal leader to take the helm of our North America beverage business, and we are fortunate to be able to proudly appoint him from within our organization,” says Ramon Laguarta, PepsiCo chairman and CEO. “His vast experience leading International Beverages and our global commercial agenda, paired with his roots in North America senior executive roles, make him a force to accelerate our beverage growth agenda. He is an innovator at heart who keeps people at the core of every decision, and I look forward to seeing his inspirational leadership in action.”
Tanner will join The Wendy’s Company as CEO following his departure. He has been with PepsiCo for 32 years, joining in 1992 and serving in a range of leadership roles—in sales, operations, customer marketing, distribution, and channel development—before taking over as CEO of PepsiCo Beverages North America in 2019.
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“Kirk’s leadership across our organization, and most recently as our North America beverage business CEO, has driven strong performance underpinned by a commitment to serving our customers, operational excellence, and a continuous innovation pipeline,” Laguarta says. “I’m grateful for his contributions to our business, and our people, and we will carry forward the tenacity and team-first mentality he embedded in the organization.”
