PepsiCo Inc. on Wednesday announced that Laxman Narasimhan, currently CEO of Latin America Foods, has been named CEO of Latin America.
Narasimhan will lead an integrated food and beverage business across the region, creating new opportunities to leverage the scale of PepsiCo’s complementary brand portfolio and enable greater collaborations. His appointment accompanies a rearrangement of reportable segments of PepsiCo’s business that will begin in the third quarter of 2015. The company’s food and beverage businesses in Latin America will be combined and reported as Latin America.
Narasimhan’s appointment was announced with various other leadership appointments that support the company’s global business priorities and growth strategies.
“Our consistent focus on talent development has built a best-in-class leadership pipeline that is fueling our success and positioning PepsiCo well for sustainable long-term growth,” PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi said. “Today’s appointments enable us to continue to elevate our next generation of talent to increasing levels of responsibility. This is essential to ensure our ability to better navigate complex operating conditions around the world and meet the changing needs of our business in the future.”
Other executive changes include:
• Eugene Willemsen, currently president of PepsiCo Lipton, has been named executive vice president for Global Categories and Franchise Management.
• Brian Newman, currently senior vice president and general manager of Global E-Commerce, has been named executive vice president for Global Operations.
• Hugh Johnston, executive vice president and chief financial officer, is being named vice chairman.
