Hershey Names Kirk Tanner CEO
The Hershey Co., has named Kirk Tanner as CEO, succeeding Michele Buck, who previously announced she would be retiring from the company.
Hershey’s board selected Tanner for his strong track record as a food and beverage executive with major brands such as PepsiCo, where he spent three decades. During that time, he held several senior leadership positions, including president of PepsiCo’s global foodservice business, SVP of Frito-Lay North America's west division and VP of sales for PepsiCo’s U.K. and Ireland markets.
He ultimately became CEO of PepsiCo’s North America beverages division, where he led the $28 billion business with a portfolio of such brands as Pepsi, Gatorade, Mountain Dew, Pure Leaf and Bubly. In that role, he oversaw portfolio optimization efforts to keep up with evolving consumer shifts and drove growth and profitability via brand building and customer partnerships.
Most recently, Tanner was president and CEO for The Wendy’s Co., where he led brand growth, innovation and operations.
Mary Kay Haben, the chair of the CEO search committee for Hershey, said Tanner’s deep experience in mergers and acquisitions and innovation, combined with his background as CEO for public companies, makes him well-suited to lead the company.
"Kirk is a proven, high-impact leader in the food and beverage industry with a great combination of customer and consumer passion, commercial acumen and operational scale," said Haben in a statement.
Tanner said that as he takes on the role, he will remain focused on three pillars that drive success: understanding and delighting consumers, building strong partnerships with customers and investing in colleagues.
Buck’s Legacy & Transition
Buck has been with the company for 20 years, starting as Hershey’s SVP of marketing and SVP global chief marketing officer in 2005 before being promoted to president and CEO in 2017. During her tenure, she served as the key architect of the company's expansion into broader snacking categories, according to a previous statement from the board.
Hershey business optimizations under Buck’s leadership include:
- Continued digital enhancements supported by an ERP implementation to better meet consumer needs
- A bolstered analytics infrastructure and new data architecture that unified and streamline insights and processes
- Investments in technologies such as augmented reality and image recognition in order to help retailers make data-driven decisions that better positions merchandise to drive sales increases
- Assortment renovations including pack redesigns driven by consumer insights to navigate busy seasonal periods
Buck will stay on in a senior advisory capacity during the transition, with the official hand-off taking place August 18.
