Food and beverage giant PepsiCo has appointed Ram Krishnan, currently its chief executive officer for Greater China, as its new global chief commercial officer (CCO).

PepsiCo has been forced to shuffle its executive pack following current CCO Laxman Narasimhan’s departure to take up the CEO position at UK-based consumer goods business Reckitt Benckiser.

The Frito-Lay and Walkers Crisps owner said Krishnan will continue to lead its Chinese operation “at this point”.

Krishnan joined the company in 2006. He held successive roles at Frito-Lay, ultimately becoming the business’ chief marketing officer in 2014.

In 2016, he was promoted to the role of North American commercial general manager and senior vice president of the Walmart customer team. He was appointed to lead PepsiCo’s China business in 2017. 

PepsiCo chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said: “Ram is a proven leader with deep consumer and customer understanding who also knows how to harness data to drive business growth.”

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He added: “Ram understands the importance of competing locally, which has driven his ability to win in both Eastern and Western markets. He is just the kind of competitive, strategic leader we need as PepsiCo continues on our journey to accelerate growth.”

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