Filling the vacancy at the top of its Australian and New Zealand business with an internal appointment from the U.S, PepsiCo has appointed Kyle Faulconer as the new ANZ chief executive. He replaces outgoing boss Danny Celoni who was recently appointed the new chief executive of Asahi-owned Australian brewer Carlton & United Breweries.
Faulconer is currently vice president and general manager at PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay snacks business and will relocate from the U.S to Sydney to take up the role in January 2022.
He has been with the group for 14 years, most recently responsible for leading the strategic agenda for Walmart, one of PepsiCo’s largest global customers, and is said by PepsiCo to be a passionate advocate for consumer-centric innovation.
It added that in the ANZ post Faulconer would “focus on driving innovation and further growth across the PepsiCo portfolio of drinks and snacks, alongside strengthening the market’s purpose and people-led business operations.”
The global group generated more than US$70bn in net revenue in 2020 across its food and beverage portfolio, which includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, Tropicana and SodaStream.
In New Zealand its snack brands include Bluebird, and PepsiCo works with Frucor Suntory as a domestic manufacturer and distributor.
PepsiCo’s Asia Pacific chief executive, Wern-Yuen Tan, said Faulconer’s customer experience, track record of driving long-term growth in competitive markets, and people-first leadership approach would be a significant asset to the local team.
“Kyle brings a vast amount of experience in successfully navigating complex and competitive markets with a deep understanding of our business and purpose,” he said.
“We are delighted to welcome Kyle to ANZ and know he will lead the team to new heights.”
Faulconer said that he was “thrilled to join the world-class team and help the PepsiCo business continue to grow across Australia and New Zealand.”
“I look forward to creating new opportunities to accelerate our positive, purpose-led impact for our partners, customers and consumers.”