Hershey named PepsiCo veteran Heather Hoytink as president of its U.S. operations, bringing a CPG executive with more than 20 years of sales, operations and leadership experience.
Hoytink, who is set to take over the role on July 8, previously served as senior vice president and chief commercial officer for PepsiCo’s away-from-home beverages business in the U.S. She replaces Andrew Archambault, who unexpectedly left after less than a month in the position to take over as president and chief operating officer at energy drink and sports nutrition company Nutrabolt.
Kirk Tanner, Hershey’s CEO, said in a statement that Hoytink is "an outstanding people leader with deep customer relationships, the operating discipline to execute at scale and a track record of growth that will accelerate our U.S. business.”
“Her experience leading some of the largest, most complex customer and commercial organizations in the industry makes her exceptionally well-suited to lead our team into the next generation of growth,” Tanner added.
At Hershey, Hoytink will run the company’s U.S. commercial business and oversee its full snacking portfolio of confection, salty and protein. She will also advance Hershey’s recently implemented ONE Hershey, which combined confection, salty and protein divisions into a single entity to drive growth, boost execution and improve relationships with consumers and retailers.
Hoytink’s appointment also comes as Hershey deals with significant headwinds that have infiltrated much of the broader food and beverage category. The Pennsylvania-based company has faced elevated commodity prices in areas such as cocoa, in addition to a pullback in spending by cash-strapped consumers.
During its most recent quarter ending March 29, Hershey reported that net sales rose 10.6% to $3.1 billion, while volume dipped 2% as price increases caused some consumers to curtail purchases.
