The Tetra Laval Group Board has appointed Pietro Cassani as President & CEO of Sidel effective 15 July 2024. Pietro will be based in Parma, Italy. The appointment follows the decision by Monica Gimre to step down after more than five years as President & CEO of Sidel and 41 years in total with the Tetra Laval Group.

Pietro has been CEO of the Marchesini Group for the past eight years, and before that spent over 10 years as Group General Manager of SACMI. In total he has over 30 years of business and engineering experience. He holds an Engineering degree from the University of Bologna, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the SDA Bocconi School of Management.

Paul Graham, President of Americas at Döhler, is announced as FEMA’s new President. He is committed to increasing collaboration among all stakeholders and aims to champion flavour safety as well as to improve associations’ outreach efforts. With his experience within Döhler, he seeks to advance the industry.

During the FEMA Annual Leadership Conference, which took place in Charleston (SC) from April 29 to May 1, Paul Graham was appointed FEMA President. Paul brings vast experience of more than 35 years in the industry and has been an honoured member of FEMA for more than 10 years. He officially assumed his role on May 1, 2024, following his recognition by the association members and former President Laurette Rondenet.

FEMA, the Flavour and Extract Manufacturers Association of the United States, founded in 1909, is the preeminent national association of the U.S. flavour industry, dedicated to ensuring the availability of safe flavouring substances.

As President, Paul excitedly highlights, “I am deeply committed to leading FEMA through a period of evolution by creating and implementing a comprehensive strategic five-year plan. This will enhance collaboration among FEMA Committee Chairs, members, and stakeholders, while working together with IOFI (International Organisation of the Flavour Industry).”

Another central topic to Paul Graham’s agenda is advancing FEMA’s commitment to ensuring the safe and responsible use of flavourings through FEMA GRAS while fostering industry innovation. He is dedicated to improving outreach and membership engagement as well as making FEMA more accessible, strengthening programs like the FIL (Flavour Ingredient Library) and FEMA FLI (Future Leaders Initiative).

The AIJN (European Fruit Juice Association) announced a change in the Presidency. Javier Lorenzo Benavides, CEO of Eckes-Granini Ibérica, representative of the Spanish Fruit Juice Federation, member of the AIJN Board of Directors since April 2016, took over the Presidency on 1 January 2024 for a two-year term. Javier was born in Madrid in 1962. He has a degree in Psychology and a Postgraduate Degree in Psychology for Industrial and Business Organisations. He has been working in the consumer goods industry for more than 30 years. He worked throughout his professional career in companies such as P&G, Gillette and Reckitt Benckiser before joining Eckes-Granini in 2011.

The position of treasurer has also been handed over. Thomas Brandstaetter, current Managing Director of the company Zipperle and representative of the Italian Fruit Juice Association has taken over from Thomas Mertens from the German Fruit Juice Association.

Cargill announced Brian Sikes has been elected President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective Jan. 1, 2023. With this transition, Dave MacLennan will assume the role of Executive Chair of Cargill’s Board of Directors.

Sikes will be the 10th CEO in Cargill’s 157-year history and brings a strong track record of business operational rigor to the role, having grown the company’s global Protein and Salt enterprise into an industry leader. Sikes currently serves as Cargill’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), where he has been instrumental in constructing the company’s long-term strategy. With broad experience across multiple businesses, cycles and geographies, Sikes held leadership roles in the U.S., Canada and Europe, and served as the head of the company’s Talent Center of Expertise. His relentless focus on people and culture, customers, and proven expertise in leading growth and transformation have earned him the trust and respect of Cargill’s customers, employees and the Board.

Sikes will succeed MacLennan, who joined the company in 1991 and served in multiple executive roles, including CFO and COO, before becoming the company’s Chairman and CEO in 2013. During his nine years at the company’s helm, MacLennan helped achieve outstanding financial results while feeding millions of families and building community resilience in more than 125 countries worldwide. His long-term strategic vision and willingness to disrupt are exemplified by his leadership on the largest acquisitions in the company’s history, including Croda (bioindustrials), EWOS (aquaculture), Diamond V (animal nutrition), and Sanderson and Wayne Farms (poultry). In addition, the company built expertise in alternative proteins and has developed technologies and digital solutions to transform farming, supply chains and food delivery during his tenure.

MacLennan is passionate about employee well-being, never compromising worker health and safety for production. He created Cargill’s sustainability office and built a culture that prioritizes and celebrates diversity, equity and inclusion. Under his leadership, the company is on a path to achieve gender parity by 2030 and the representation of women on the Executive Team has increased to 46%. In addition, he has been an industry leader in sustainability, particularly around climate change. He prioritized action, not just making commitments, with programs like RegenConnect™, which has advanced regenerative agriculture practices on 158,000 acres of North American farmland, and BeefUp Sustainability, which has reduced 1.7 million metric tons of CO2.

In his role as Executive Chair of the Board, MacLennan will ensure a smooth leadership transition, serve as a trusted strategic advisor to Sikes, the company and the Board and support Cargill’s long-term strategic plan.

The Coca-Cola Company announced that Henrique Braun has been named to a newly created role of President, International Development. In this position, Braun will oversee seven operating units that span dozens of countries and territories around the world.

Braun, 54, currently serves as president of the Latin America operating unit, a position he has held since 2020. Braun is a 26-year veteran of the company who has progressed through a number of roles in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America.

“Henrique is a strong leader who has learned and grown in operations across the company,” said James Quincey, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. “Most recently, he has led the Latin America operating unit to outstanding results. Henrique’s work to digitise our business and lead a consumer-centric team makes him an ideal fit for a new, broader role.”

As President, International Development, Braun will have oversight of the Latin America operating unit, along with adding responsibility for six operating units: Japan and South Korea; ASEAN and South Pacific; Greater China and Mongolia; Africa; India and Southwest Asia; and Eurasia and Middle East. The presidents of these operating units remain unchanged; Braun’s successor as president of the Latin America operating unit will be named at a later date.

About Henrique Braun
Braun has worked in a number of functions during his career at Coca-Cola, including supply chain, new business development, marketing, innovation, general management and bottling operations. He has also been a leader in regional, business unit and corporate functions.
From 2013 to 2016, he served as president of the company’s Greater China & Korea business unit. He was named president of the Brazil business unit in 2016, followed by his current role as president of what was then the newly created Latin America operating unit in 2020.
Braun is a dual citizen of the United States and Brazil. He earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from the University Federal of Rio de Janeiro. He also has a Master of Science degree from Michigan State University and an MBA from Georgia State University.
Braun takes on his new duties Jan. 1, 2023, and will report to Quincey.
The company also announced that President and Chief Financial Officer John Murphy will add oversight of the company’s Bottling Investments Group, which will continue to be led by President Murat Ozgel.

The Coca-Cola Company announced that Jennifer Mann will become president of the company’s North America operating unit effective Jan. 1, 2023. Mann succeeds Alfredo Rivera, who will step down Dec. 31. Rivera, who has led a successful restructuring of the North America operating unit, will remain with the company as a senior advisor through March 2023.

Mann, 49, currently serves as corporate senior vice president and president of Global Ventures. Her team is responsible for globally scaling acquisitions and brands, including Costa Coffee and Coca-Cola’s investment in Monster Beverage Corp. A new leader for Global Ventures will be named at a later date.

Rivera, 61, has led the North America operating unit since August 2020.

About Jennifer Mann
Mann joined Coca-Cola in 1997 and went on to hold a number of roles of increasing responsibility. She became president of Global Ventures in 2019.
Prior to her role with Global Ventures, Mann served as chief people officer for the company and as chief of staff for Quincey. From 2012 to 2015, she was vice president and general manager of Coca-Cola Freestyle, where she accelerated the global expansion of Freestyle and led its development across the Coca-Cola system.
Mann’s first role with the company was as a manager in the National Customer Support division of North America. She went on to hold various customer and operational roles, including director, McDonald’s Customer & Consumer Operations; director, Good Answer; and vice president, Foodservice & On-Premise Strategy and Marketing for Coca-Cola Refreshments.
Mann is a member of the board of directors of Coca-Cola Consolidated. Mann holds a degree in accounting from Georgia State University.

Christoph Goppelsroeder, former President and CEO of DSM Nutritional Products, was unanimously elected to Bühler Group’s Board of Directors on October 8, 2021.

Christoph Goppelsroeder (62) was unanimously elected to Bühler’s Board of Directors at an extraordinary general shareholders’ meeting on October 8, 2021. With his appointment, the Board of Directors is gaining an experienced executive who has played a crucial role in innovation and who puts customer needs first.

Swiss national Christoph Goppelsroeder began his career at The Boston Consulting Group. From 1994 to 2003, he held management positions at Roche Vitamins in Switzerland, Belgium, and the US. He joined DSM through their acquisition of Roche’s Vitamins business in 2003 when he co-led the integration of Roche Vitamins and acted as DSM Managing Board member from 2005 to 2006. From 2007 to 2012, he oversaw Syngenta’s Global Seed Care Division. In 2013, Christoph Goppelsroeder was appointed President and CEO of DSM Nutritional Products, DSM’s largest business, and Member of DSM’s Executive Committee. He led the division on a robust growth path, both organically as well as through acquisitions. He retired on April 1, 2021.

Paul Graham, GB Managing Director at Britvic, has been appointed as the new President of the British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) trade body following election at its AGM.

Paul takes over from Nichols CEO Dr Marnie Millard OBE, who led a number of initiatives during her time as President, including the BSDA’s role as a founder-member of Circularity Scotland Ltd, a scheme administrator for Scotland’s deposit return scheme (DRS).

Paul joined Britvic in September 2012 having worked in a range of commercial roles across all trade channels for United Biscuits and Mars Confectionery. He was promoted to his current position in July 2013 and was appointed Vice President of the BSDA in 2020.

He said: “I am delighted to be elected as the new BSDA President. I aim to continue the outstanding work of Marnie and past presidents on making further significant progress on a wide range of soft drinks-related issues, not least helping our partners in the hospitality sector get back on their feet after an extremely challenging year.

“As a founder-member of Circularity Scotland, the BSDA continues to work closely with the Scottish Government to develop its DRS, which is currently due to be introduced in 2022, although we are eager to see the Scottish Government review this date to help ensure delivery of a well-designed DRS system in Scotland that works for consumers and businesses.”

William Watkins, Founder and Owner at Radnor Hills, has been elected to replace Paul as Vice President of the BSDA. William founded Radnor Hills in 1991 on his family farm based on the Welsh borders. The business now produces more than 350 million products per year.

The BSDA represents UK producers of soft drinks, including carbonated drinks, still and dilutable drinks, fruit juices and bottled waters. Membership includes the majority of Britain’s soft drinks manufacturers as well as franchisors, importers and suppliers to the UK soft drinks industry.

Tate & Lyle PLC, a leading global provider of food and beverage ingredients and solutions, announced that Victoria Spadaro Grant has joined the Company as its new President, Innovation and Commercial Development. Victoria will also be a member of Tate & Lyle’s Executive Committee.

Victoria will lead Tate & Lyle’s global approach to product application and technical services, and scientific, nutrition and regulatory affairs, as well as delivering the company’s R&D strategy in partnership with global business divisions and external innovation partners.

Victoria joins Tate & Lyle from Barilla, the Italian multinational food company, where she has been Chief Global Research Development and Quality Officer since 2014. During her career, Victoria has held senior R&D roles with leading food and beverage brands including Mars Chocolate, Kraft Heinz and PepsiCo.

Victoria takes on this role from Andrew Taylor who is now leading Tate & Lyle’s new region of Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

FEVE – the European Container Glass Federation has elected its executive team for the 2019-2021 term of office at its Annual General Assembly held in Brussels.

Michel Giannuzzi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Verallia Group – one of Europe’s leading glass packaging manufacturers for the food and beverage sector, has been elected as President of the association, succeeding Johan Gorter, CEO of Ardagh Glass Europe. Commenting on his new role, Mr Giannuzzi said: “Our industry has a unique opportunity right now: as packaging is under scrutiny by consumers for its sustainability and healthy credentials. The glass industry is perfectly positioned to respond to customer and regulatory requirements leveraging the benefits of the Circular Economy”.

Today, some 80 billion bottles, jars and flacons are supplied annually to the global food and beverage industry as well as to fragrance, cosmetics and pharma markets. Glass packaging is easily and infinitely recyclable. In the last fifteen years, glass recycling has increased by 139 % throughout Europe. Some 1.5 million bottle banks are available across the region and an average of 74 % of Europe’s glass is collected for recycling, demonstrating the success of the dedicated glass recycling scheme introduced in Europe in the 1970s. These numbers also underline the commitment of the glass industry to attain aggressive recycling rates.

“Mr Giannuzzi added. “As we move towards a more sustainable future, we have a great opportunity to continue innovating glass production. We are determined to further reduce our industry’s environmental footprint, increase quantity and quality of recycled glass, and continue to design new packaging solutions that provide value to our customers and their brands”. He concluded: “In my role as President, building on the excellent job done by my colleague Johan Gorter, I want to convey enthusiasm and energy, and further promote sustainability goals, technology innovation, customer proximity and consumer engagement”.

The industry invests every year at least than €600 million in its 160 manufacturing plants and research facilities across Europe to modernize production, further reduce emissions, increase recycled content and reduce weight of the glass containers⁽¹⁾. Today, glass containers are on average 30 % lighter than 20 years ago, while maintaining and even improving their product qualities, recyclability, and innovative design.

In addition, Vitaliano Torno, President of O-I Europe, has been elected Vice-President of FEVE. He said: “Our customers thrive on glass as the most sustainable packaging solution. Led by the knowledge and ambition of our industry’s employees, we are innovating to help our customers build their precious and renowned brands and become valued partners as well as sustainable producers. I am determined to move the glass industry forward and promote the benefits of glass.”

The industry is also continuously increasing its communication efforts to inform and educate consumers, regulators and other stakeholders about the numerous benefits of glass packaging, and the fundamental role of packaging in protecting end-consumer products. The Friends of Glass platform on www.friendsofglass.com reaches out to millions of consumers around the Globe.

⁽¹⁾ See the E&Y report “Environmental, social and economic contribution of the Container Glass sector in Europe” – February 2015.

The American Beverage Association (ABA) announced that Katherine Lugar, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), will join ABA as its new president and CEO later this year. Lugar will succeed Susan K. Neely, who successfully led ABA for 13 years. Neely was named president and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) in May 2018.

Lugar will leverage deep public policy and advocacy experience on behalf of ABA and its member companies, which make and sell some of the world’s most popular and innovative non-alcoholic beverages. As president and CEO of AHLA, Lugar transformed the lodging industry’s largest association in her five-year tenure, tripling revenue and membership, strengthening the association’s core mission on advocacy, championing the industry’s voice with policymakers and achieving historic highs for the industry political action committee (PAC) placing it in the top two percent of all association PACs.

Lugar previously served as the Retail Industry Leaders Association’s (RILA) executive vice president of public affairs, where she ran a number of successful, high-profile issue campaigns. Prior to RILA, Lugar led government relations for Travelers Insurance, served as vice president of legislative and political affairs at the National Retail Federation (NRF) and worked on Capitol Hill. She currently is chair-elect of the board of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation for pediatric cancer, a member of the executive committee of the Bryce Harlow Foundation and a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Committee of 100.

The non-alcoholic beverage industry employs more than 250,000 people with a direct economic impact of more than $182.6 billion. The industry manufactures a variety of beverage choices in a wide range of calories and package sizes, including bottled water, 100 percent juice, juice drinks, sports drinks, soft drinks, ready-to-drink teas and energy drinks.

Royal DSM, a global science-based company active in health, nutrition, and materials, announced that Patrick Niels is appointed President DSM Food Specialties as of 1 August 2017.

Patrick, a Dutch national, has held leadership roles across a number of regions and businesses for DSM, most recently as President DSM Resins & Functional Materials, where he has led the transformation of the Business Group into a high-performing, fast-growing business with very high employee engagement.

Patrick began his career at Gist-Brocades in 1991, and held several Marketing & Sales roles as well as Business Management roles, before the company was acquired by DSM in 1997. He went on to build his career in increasingly senior roles within DSM, including leading DSM Coating Resins, DSM Desotech and latest DSM Resins & Functional Materials.

Patrick Niels succeeds Ilona Haaijer, who has decided to continue her career outside DSM. Helen Mets will succeed Patrick as President DSM Resins & Functional Materials.