PepsiCo Announces New CEO of North America Beverages

PepsiCo has announced that Ram Krishnan has been appointed CEO for PepsiCo Beverages North America. Kirk Tanner, current CEO of the company's North America beverage business, will retire on February 2, headed for Wendy's as its new CEO. 

Ram Krishnan currently serves as CEO of International Beverages and chief commercial officer for PepsiCo. In these roles he oversaw the company's Global Concentrate group, Franchise operations, Global Beverage group, SodaStream, Beyond the Bottle and the Global Commercial organization to include 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 a number of 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 Chief Marketing Officer of Frito-Lay North America. Prior to joining PepsiCo, Krishnan spent six years at Cadillac.  

"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. 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," said Ramon Laguarta, chairman and chief executive officer, PepsiCo.

Tanner has been with the CPG giant for 32 years. He joined PepsiCo in 1992 and has held several leadership roles in many US and international locations. He assumed the role of CEO for PepsiCo Beverages North America in 2019. Tanner's responsibilities included serving as president of PepsiCo Global Foodservice; senior VP and general manager of Frito-Lay's West Business Division; VP of Sales at PepsiCo UK and Ireland; and multiple VP roles of Frito-Lay North America regions.

"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. 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.," said Laguarta.