BURLINGTON, Mass. and FRISCO, Tex., USA – Keurig Dr Pepper today announced several leadership appointments to continue to drive its Company strategy and deliver on its vision of a beverage for every need, anytime and anywhere. “KDP is evolving our leadership structure to drive the next phase of our growth,” said Tim Cofer, Chief Executive Officer.
“We have been intentional about building a deep bench of talent, and we are fortunate to have leaders who are seasoned, forward-thinking and ready to step into these critical roles.”
The Company announced the following changes, effective immediately, to its Executive Leadership Team:
Eric Gorli, President, U.S. Refreshment Beverages. Gorli will oversee Keurig Dr Pepper ‘s $9 billion liquid refreshment business, which includes the carbonated soft drinks, still beverages and energy portfolios in the U.S. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the beverage industry, including nearly two decades in roles within The Coca-Cola Company’s system across both bottling operations and Coca-Cola North America. Since joining KDP in 2015, Gorli has been a key leader in commercialization efforts across the enterprise, developing KDP’s pricing, promotional and growth strategies, and serving most recently as Chief Commercial Officer.
Sean Cronican, Chief Customer Officer. With almost 30 years of sales experience, Cronican will lead KDP’s customer-facing teams for all of the Company’s customer partnerships in the U.S., including grocery, mass, club, small format, fountain foodservice and e-commerce. Having joined KDP in 2016, Cronican has held roles across sales and commercial leadership and has built and deepened many of KDP’s critical customer relationships. Prior to KDP, Sean spent nearly 20 years with Abbott Nutrition.
Drew Panayiotou, Chief Marketing Officer. Panayiotou, who joined KDP this past November, expands his responsibilities to include Marketing for both U.S. Refreshment Beverages and U.S. Coffee, along with enterprise Marketing Services. With nearly three decades of sales, marketing and general management experience, Panayiotou is accelerating a digital-first marketing approach at KDP.
These three leaders join existing ELT members reporting directly to CEO Tim Cofer. The roles of the following ELT members remain unchanged:
- Mary Beth DeNooyer, Chief Human Resources Officer
- Roger Johnson, Chief Supply Chain Officer
- Patrick Minogue, President, U.S. Coffee
- Monique Oxender, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer
- Sudhanshu Priyadarshi, Chief Financial Officer and President, International
- Dr. Karin Rotem-Wildeman, Chief Research & Development Officer
- Anthony Shoemaker, Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel
Additionally, the Company is taking steps to seize the growth opportunity in the energy category. Through a series of brand and infrastructure investments over the last several years, KDP has significantly increased its category market share, and its energy portfolio now generates more than $1 billion in retail sales. To realize the substantial growth ahead, Justin Whitmore is appointed to the newly created role of President, KDP Energy, overseeing KDP’s energy brand portfolio, including marketing, sales, operations and integration, reporting to Eric Gorli.
After supporting the transition to this new organizational structure, Andrew Archambault, currently, President, U.S. Refreshment Beverages, will depart KDP on January 31 for an opportunity outside the Company. Archambault helped build KDP’s commercial strategy in the years following the merger and held a number of critical leadership roles during his seven years with the Company.
