Leaders Take on New Roles in Coca‑Cola North America

The following announcement was made by J. Alexander “Sandy” Douglas Jr., president of Coca‑Cola North America.

Our entire Coca‑Cola North America team should be proud of the results we’ve achieved over the last few years. Collectively, we’ve led CCNA to become the fastest-growing large consumer products business in North America. With the retirement of Hendrik Steckhan, we will now realign our leadership team with the goal of simplifying our structure as we continue to build on our great momentum.

Effective immediately, we have made the following changes to the CCNA Executive Leadership Team:

Stuart Kronauge will now be Business Unit President of USA Operations and Senior Vice President of Marketing. In this role, Stuart will continue to be responsible for both Brand Marketing and Strategic Marketing. Rudy Salas and the Franchise and Commercial Leadership organization will report to her. By combining these organizations under Stuart, we hope to continue to strengthen the connection of our brands to our commercial and franchise leadership activities.

Jim Dinkins will be the new president of the Minute Maid Business Unit, and he will also continue to lead National Retail Sales. Jim’s vast experience and strong general management skills will allow him to maintain the positive trajectory of the Minute Maid business, while also continuing to strengthen our relationship with customers. Concurrently, Allison Higbie will support Jim in leading these important businesses.

Allison Higbie is now VP of Minute Maid and Simply and will be promoted to VP-GM, Juice. In addition to her current marketing role she will also be responsible for Juice Strategy, Juice Innovation and Minute Maid Commercial organizations.

Mel Landis, who has been president of our Minute Maid Business Unit, is moving to Atlanta to take on a new position as SVP Business Transformation for CCNA. As we continue with the important productivity and reinvestment work that has been underway for several years, Mel will lead a new initiative to focus on all aspects of CCNA effectiveness and efficiency. Mel leaves Minute Maid after two years of strong leadership, including the unit’s qualification for the Woodruff Cup competition. Mel’s career in the Coke system includes posts with Coca‑Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated and Coca‑Cola Refreshments.

The other members of our CCNA Executive Leadership Team remain the same.

CCNA will play a critical role as The Coca‑Cola Company continues its transformation into a growth-oriented, consumer-centered total beverage company. The changes announced today will help us continue to excel in a marketplace that is fast-changing, highly complex and filled with great opportunities.

Please join me in congratulating these leaders on their new roles and added responsibilities. We have a deep bench of talented executives at CCNA, and I have complete confidence that these changes will enable us to sustain and accelerate our growth.

Sandy Douglas

President, Coca‑Cola North America