Dive Brief:
- Coca-Cola said Thursday that James Quincey will be the company's president and chief operating officer, starting immediately. He was president of Coke's Europe Group since 2013.
- Quincey had an integral part in the announced merger proposal of Coca-Cola Enterprises, Coca-Cola Iberian Partners, and Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetranke AG, according to a news release.
- "I am excited and honored to take on this role and look forward to partnering with Muhtar (Kent) and our talented senior leadership team to deliver on our 2020 Vision and help accelerate the strategic actions we’ve outlined to reinvigorate growth across our Company and system worldwide," Quincey said in a news release.
Dive Insight:
This is just one of a slew of executive changes, including a new chief marketing officer, chief technical and innovation officer, chief procurement officer within the last year for Coca-Cola.
"... I could not be more pleased about (Quincey's) appointment to this critical role at this important time," CEO Kent said in a news release.
An "important time" it is indeed — the company recently announced a better-than-exepcted Q2 earnings report, though Diet Coke is seeing its share of struggles.
The company has been in the spotlight this week following a report about its funding to a nonprofit that claims eating junk food isn't a direct cause of obesity.