Bernhard Goepelt to Retire as Senior Vice
President and General Counsel
The Coca-Cola Company today announced two retirements in senior
leadership. Senior Vice President and Chief Growth Officer
Francisco Crespo will retire in 2020, stepping down after a
three-decade career with the company. Bernhard Goepelt will retire,
also in 2020, as Senior Vice President and General Counsel.
Crespo was named to the newly created position of CGO in May
2017. He focused on building a global community across the
company’s operations, which was instrumental in driving new levels
of excellence in how the company goes to market. With his success
in implementing that work, Crespo is ready to transition to the
next phase of his personal and professional plans.
Goepelt, who has been with Coca-Cola since 1992, is retiring
after serving as general counsel for eight years. He will be
focusing on family obligations in his native Germany. He will
remain with the company through February 2020.
Crespo Retirement and New Structure
As CGO, Crespo had oversight of integrated global marketing,
corporate strategy and customer and commercial operations. His work
included the creation of a global growth framework anchored in the
establishment of a disciplined approach to develop the company’s
brand portfolio.
“Francisco has played a critical role in the success of our
company in recent years, especially in helping develop a growth
strategy that has become thoroughly embedded in our operations and
our culture,” said James Quincey, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola
Company. “He leaves an important legacy of helping make us more
focused on fast-changing consumer needs at a critical time.”
Now that the growth strategy is firmly in place, the company is
evolving the structure of its global growth organization. Three
main areas will be embedded in the organizations of three senior
leaders:
- Integrated global marketing, which includes teams for Creative,
Category, Marketing Operations, Design and Knowledge &
Insights, will report to Manolo Arroyo, who will be Chief Marketing
Officer, in addition to continuing to serve as president of the
company’s Asia Pacific Group;
- Corporate strategy will report to Chief Financial Officer John
Murphy;
- Customer and commercial operations will report to President and
Chief Operating Officer Brian Smith.
The alignment of integrated global marketing under Arroyo will
more closely integrate marketing within operations. Arroyo will
continue to lead the Asia Pacific group, reporting to Smith. In
addition, Arroyo will report directly to Quincey as part of his new
marketing duties.
Arroyo has an extensive background in operations, marketing and
brand management. He started his Coca-Cola career in 1995 in brand
management in Spain. He moved to Atlanta in 1998 and put together
the first global water strategy for the company. When he returned
to Spain in 2000, he served as marketing director for the company’s
Iberia business unit. He moved on to a series of roles in
operations and began his current position in Asia Pacific at the
start of 2019.
The structural changes take effect Jan. 1, 2020.
“We know consumer needs are changing faster and faster, and it
is critical for the company to be agile in how it responds and
adapts,” Quincey said. “Manolo’s dual leadership over operations
and marketing is a new structure for us, and we anticipate that it
will evolve in the months ahead. Manolo’s focus will range from
developing work that can be used around the globe to supporting
local campaigns.”
Crespo’s Coca-Cola Career
Crespo, 54, joined Coca-Cola in 1989 in Ecuador. He went on to
hold roles of increasing levels of responsibility in Brazil and
Chile before becoming president of the South Latin business unit,
where he managed company operations in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile,
Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. He was later named president of the
company’s Mexico business unit.
Crespo’s full bio is available at
https://www.coca-colacompany.com/company/leadership/francisco-crespo
“Over the past several years, we’ve worked hard to create
headroom for our brands to grow. We created the frameworks and
disciplines to capture it, and our results demonstrate our
progress,” Crespo said. “I feel confident that this great company
that I love is set for sustained and long-term growth.”
Crespo will remain with the company through June 30, 2020,
serving as a senior strategic advisor. He will continue to report
to Quincey.
Goepelt Retirement
Goepelt, 57, joined the company in 1992 as Legal Counsel for the
former German Division, and he went on to hold a series of larger
roles. In 1997, he was named Legal Counsel for the Middle and Far
East Group. He moved to Thailand in 1998 and, in 1999, became
Division Counsel for the Southeast and West Asia Division.
Goepelt returned to Europe in 2003 as Group Counsel for the
Central Europe, Eurasia and Middle East Group. In 2005, he became
General Counsel for Japan and China. In 2007, he was named General
Counsel for the Pacific Group.
Goepelt moved to Atlanta in 2010, where he was named Associate
General Counsel of Global Marketing, Commercial Leadership and
Strategy. He added duties as General Counsel for the Pacific Group
in 2010, and he also managed administration of the Legal Division.
He was named to his current position in 2011.
“We thank Bernhard for his years of service to the company and
wish him well,” Quincey said.
A successor to Goepelt will be named at a later date.
About The Coca-Cola
Company
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company,
offering over 500 brands in more than 200 countries and
territories. In addition to the company’s Coca-Cola brand, our
portfolio includes AdeS, Ayataka, Costa, Dasani, Del Valle, Fanta,
Georgia, Gold Peak, Honest, innocent, Minute Maid, Powerade,
Simply, smartwater, Sprite, vitaminwater and ZICO. We’re constantly
transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to
bringing innovative new products to market. We’re also working to
reduce our environmental impact by replenishing water and promoting
recycling. With our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000
people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities
worldwide. Learn more at www.coca-colacompany.com and follow us on
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
The fairlife® brand is owned by fairlife LLC, our joint venture
with Select Milk Producers Inc. Products from fairlife are
distributed by our company and certain of our bottling
partners.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191216005181/en/
Investors and Analysts: Tim
Leveridge, koinvestorrelations@coca-cola.com Media: Scott Leith, sleith@coca-cola.com
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