Chobani names PepsiCo executive as chief customer officer

Dive Brief:

• Chobani named John Frost as its new chief customer officer where he will be responsible for helping grow the food and beverage company.
• Frost joins Chobani’s executive leadership team from PepsiCo, where he oversaw business strategy and sales acceleration for Frito-Lay over more than 20 years. He will report to Kevin Burns, Chobani’s president and chief operating officer.
• The appointment comes as the Greek yogurt maker launched in December a dessert-inspired offering, its first major product rollout in two years. A few days later, it purchased La Colombe for $900 million — giving it a deep presence in the fast-growing ready-to-drink coffee category and enabling the dairy firm to build on its efforts to become a more diversified food and beverage company.

Dive Insight:

Frost is no stranger to the CPG space and has extensive experience that will prove invaluable to Chobani. He previously held positions in sales and customer leadership. Chobani noted he has “a formidable track record in leadership and performance in creating long-term, sustainable growth.”

“John is an outstanding leader with a track record fueling growth in the food and beverage space and strong customer relationships, which will be invaluable as we work to grow share and execute our ambitious 2024 plan while scaling La Colombe and integrating it into our business,” Burns said in a statement. 

Chobani has been building out its C-suite through the addition of new roles and the refreshment of existing positions. In 2022, Chobani appointed Kenneth Bishop to oversee the yogurt, creamer and coffee maker’s expansion into international markets. Chobani has seen strong growth recently in its $1 billion-plus yogurt business, which makes up the lion’s share of its sales. Yogurt sales rose 11.6% for the last 52 weeks ending December 2, Nielsen data provided by the company showed, while the broader yogurt segment grew 9.9%.