Kraft Heinz Co on Wednesday named Campbell Soup Co executive Carlos Abrams-Rivera as the leader of its U.S. business, the Heinz ketchup maker's latest executive hire as it aims to revitalize its business after a troubling year.
New Kraft Heinz CEO Miguel Patricio had been managing the Chicago-based company's U.S. business since he took over in July. The unit, which makes Oscar Mayer bacon and Velveeta cheese, is Kraft Heinz's biggest contributor to sales.
Abrams-Rivera, 52, has previously worked at Kraft Heinz and Mondelez International Inc and will start his new role at Kraft Heinz in February. Most recently, Abrams-Rivera managed Campbell's snacks division.
Significant Changes
Over the past year, Kraft Heinz has withdrawn its full-year outlook, written down the value of several key brands and assets by more than $15 billion and struggled to overcome competition from retailers' private-label brands.
It also disclosed in February that it had been subpoenaed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over an investigation into the company's accounting practices.
Aiming to revitalize Kraft Heinz, Patricio, a veteran marketing executive, was brought in from Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Since Patricio's move was announced in April, Kraft Heinz's Chief Marketing Officer Eduardo Luz has stepped down and is yet to be replaced. The company's head of finance David Knopf has also left and earlier this week, Kraft Heinz named Flavio Torres its new head of global operations.
Shares of the company, down 36% since it announced a major writedown and the SEC investigation in February, were down about 1% in morning trading.
News by Reuters, edited by Donna Ahern, Checkout. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
