3M, Keurig Dr Pepper, Dole, J.M. Smucker & Others Reshape Executive Teams
The last month was a busy one for personnel changes in the consumer goods industry, providing a glimpse into corporate strategies and labor trends.
As these companies navigate margin shifts and rapid digital transformation, recent executive hires signal a divergence in strategy. Emerging brands seek out proven enterprise talent to scale, while legacy giants consolidate operations and promote internal talent to streamline growth.
Here's a look at the recent leadership announcements and what they mean for the industry.
3M
3M has appointed company veteran Tushar Kshirsagar as its new chief technology officer, effective Oct. 1, following the retirement of John Banovetz.
Kshirsagar brings more than 24 years of experience to the role, having advanced through 3M's healthcare and industrial categories to his current position as president of the industrial adhesives and tapes division.
In his new capacity, he will focus on accelerating the innovation and technology commercialization central to the company's growth strategy.
Banovetz retires after nearly two decades with 3M, where he served in several corporate strategy and global management positions prior to leading its worldwide R&D operations as CTO.
Keurig Dr Pepper
Michael Weber has departed Mondelez International to lead research and development for Keurig Dr Pepper’s North America coffee business following a broader corporate restructuring.
In his role as vice president of R&D North America, Weber will oversee the innovation pipeline and value creation strategy across the Keurig and JDE Peet’s coffee portfolio. The appointment comes as KDP prepares to separate into two independent operating units — Beverage Operating Unit and Coffee Business Operating Unit — by the end of 2026.
Weber brings extensive industry experience, having spent 24 years at Mondelez International in senior R&D, engineering and sustainability roles, and holding previous jobs at Kraft Foods, Nestlé and the Fraunhofer Institute.
Righteous Felon Craft Jerky
Righteous Felon Craft Jerky, a craft meat snack company founded in 2013, has appointed former Mondelez International executive Cristina Marinucci as its chief commercial officer.
In her new role, Marinucci will lead the brand's commercial growth strategy, overseeing sales, marketing, consumer insights, category strategy, retail media, e-commerce and innovation. She is tasked with unifying these key functions into a single operating model for the national retail and e-commerce brand.
Marinucci brings extensive consumer goods experience to the company, having previously driven commercial strategy and omni-commerce transformation for industry leaders such as Reckitt, Mars, PepsiCo and Johnson & Johnson's consumer health business (now Kenvue).
Munchkin
Baby lifestyle brand Munchkin has named Kunal Thakkar as its chief supply chain officer, reporting directly to Steven Dunn, founder and CEO of parent company Why Brands.
In this role, Thakkar oversees global operations, supply chain, compliance, sourcing, demand planning, order management and program management to support the company's next phase of growth.
He brings 20 years of global supply chain and operations experience across consumer products, retail, e-commerce, and logistics, having previously served as global CEO of logistics platform Seair. His background also includes executive leadership as chief supply chain officer at Thrasio, along with earlier roles at Firstleaf, Walmart, Newegg and UPS.
Constellation Brands
International beverage alcohol company Constellation Brands has named Alex Alvarez its senior vice president and chief supply chain officer for its beer division.
In his new role, Alvarez reports to Jim Sabia, president of the beer division, and oversees end-to-end operations including manufacturing, procurement, planning, logistics and distribution.
Alvarez brings more than 30 years of CPG and alcohol beverage industry experience to the company, having previously held supply chain leadership roles at General Mills, Procter & Gamble, Brown-Forman and Suntory Global Spirits.
He succeeds John Kester, who will retire in November after 12 years of building and expanding Constellation's integrated beer supply chain network.
Dole Packaged Foods
Dole Packaged Foods has named Stan Stuka to the newly created role of vice president of commercial, where he will unify the company's sales and marketing organizations.
Reporting directly to Hidehiro Tanabe, president of Dole Packaged Foods U.S., Stuka is tasked with aligning brand strategy, pricing and customer execution to accelerate commercial growth. He rejoins Dole after serving as director of consumer and omnichannel marketing at Amgen, following an earlier nearly 13-year tenure at Dole where he rose to senior director of marketing.
Stuka brings more than 20 years of experience across consumer packaged goods, biotechnology and consulting, with a proven track record of connecting brand strategy directly to operational execution.
Olipop
Prebiotic soda brand Olipop has appointed Christian Patiño Webb as its new chief executive officer to support the company's continued growth and scale.
In his new role, Patiño Webb will oversee overall business operations, distribution, brand expansion and strategic growth initiatives.
He brings more than 20 years of CPG commercial leadership experience from major enterprise companies — including Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Red Bull and Unilever — as well as executive roles at functional beverage and wellness startups like SmartyPants Vitamins and Electrolit.
Olipop founder Ben Goodwin will transition into the role of executive chairman and head of innovation.
J.M Smucker
The J.M. Smucker Co. promoted Jeff Varcoe to senior vice president of science and technical excellence.
Reporting to Rob Ferguson, chief product supply officer and executive vice president, Varcoe drives operational excellence across product quality, compliance and innovation.
He previously served as Smucker's vice president of quality assurance and food safety since 2023, where he directed the company's overarching safety and quality vision. Varcoe brings over 25 years of food industry experience across R&D, quality assurance and operations, including a 21-year tenure in executive roles at The Schwan Food Co.
JBS
International food company JBS has announced that Wesley Batista Filho will become its global chief executive officer in January 2027 as part of a planned leadership transition.
Batista Filho, who currently serves as CEO of the company's Americas business, succeeds Gilberto Tomazoni following Tomazoni's 14-year tenure at JBS, including eight years as global CEO.
Upon stepping down, Tomazoni will remain involved in advisory and governance roles, serving as vice chairman of the JBS board, chairman of Pilgrim's Pride Corp. and chairman of the J&F Institute.
Batista Filho brings 15 years of executive experience across JBS's global operations to the role, having previously served as CEO of JBS Brazil and president of Seara.
Dude Wipes
Dude Wipes has appointed Steve Winchell as chief product officer, marking the brand's first executive C-suite hire since its founding in 2011.
In his new role, Winchell joins the senior leadership team to oversee product innovation, research and development, quality and regulatory functions. The appointment comes as the national brand recently surpassed $1 billion in lifetime sales across more than 40,000 retail locations.
Winchell brings over 25 years of consumer goods experience to the company, having previously served as executive vice president and chief innovation officer at The Honest Co., alongside prior product leadership roles at The Clorox Co., Burt's Bees and The Parent Co.
What This Means
As consumer goods companies navigate tightening margins and rapid tech shifts, these executive moves highlight five major trends reshaping CPG leadership:
Emerging Brands Leverage Legacy Talent: Growing brands are tapping into the experience of seasoned industry veterans to build operational scale. Recent examples include Righteous Felon hiring a Mondelez veteran, Olipop bringing on commercial leadership from P&G and Unilever, and Dude Wipes appointing a 14-year Clorox veteran as its first-ever C-suite product officer.
Legacy CGs Prioritize Internal Continuity: Established consumer goods companies are leaning on long-tenured, institutional knowledge for complex operational roles. This is reflected in 3M promoting a 24-year veteran to CTO, J.M. Smucker promoting internally for its SVP of science and technical excellence and JBS establishing a long-term internal succession plan for its next global CEO.
Realigning to Break Down Silos: Companies are increasingly consolidating cross-departmental operations to align strategy with execution. Dole’s newly created commercial VP role unifies sales and marketing, Righteous Felon’s new CCO unifies seven distinct commercial functions under one operating model, and Keurig Dr Pepper is aligning its R&D innovation and value pipeline to support its upcoming corporate split.
Supply Chains Are a Strategic Growth Driver: Hiring activity at Munchkin and Constellation Brands supports a trend we've seen emerge in the last several years: supply chain functions are no longer viewed merely as back-office operations, but as essential drivers of growth, particularly for direct-to-consumer business.
External Hiring to Fuel Digital & AI Transformation: Driven by rapid advancements in AI, demand for tech-focused executive roles is surging, with chief digital and chief AI officer searches projected to grow at an 11.03% CAGR (outpacing traditional CEO and CFO roles), according to data from Mordor Intelligence. Because internal upskilling often cannot keep pace with specialized technologies like LLM fine-tuning or real-time infrastructure scaling, consulting firm Korn Ferry notes that legacy companies are aggressively recruiting external tech talent to quickly plug critical capability gaps.
