USA – PepsiCo has appointed Wern-Yuen Tan as the Chief Executive Officer of Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and China (APAC), overseeing all of company’s operations in the region, effective June 15, 2020.
Tan joins PepsiCo from Walmart, where he served as the President and CEO of Walmart China and led a team of 100,000 associates responsible for over US$10 billion in annual revenue across the Walmart, Sam’s Club and eCommerce businesses.
During his tenure, he led Walmart China through a time of transformation to become an industry pioneer in omnichannel innovation and retail digitization.
Prior to joining Walmart in 2017, Tan served as Managing Director for McDonald’s Taiwan, where he gained valuable experience in the food service sector. He has also worked at Boston Consulting Group as well as with the Singapore government.
“I am thrilled to join PepsiCo, a truly global company whose products are recognized across the world. With deep roots across this region and an unparalleled offering, PepsiCo is uniquely positioned to expand its market share and existing omnichannel capabilities across APAC,” said Tan.
According to the New York-based food and beverage giant Mr. Tan be based in Singapore and will report to PepsiCo’ Chief Executive Officer Ramon Laguarta. “I look forward to working with Ramon and the entire leadership team to drive growth and localized solutions in this dynamic part of the world,” Tan added.
Commenting on Tan’s appointment, Ramon said: “All of us at PepsiCo are delighted to welcome Wern-Yuen as our new CEO of APAC at this time of unprecedented change and opportunity.
“Wern-Yuen has driven transformative innovation and results at every step of his career and brings deep experience with consumers in this diverse region through positions in retail, food service and consulting. His leadership will be instrumental as we look to accelerate growth by leveraging our scale and creating more localized solutions in these important markets.”
Following Tan’s appointments, PepsiCo announced that Ram Krishnan, who has been serving as CEO of APAC, will now transition fully to his previously announced role as Global Chief Commercial Officer of PepsiCo.
The company said that it created the role to support its efforts to accelerate growth, with a focus on scaling innovation, commercial and transformation capabilities.
As part of the role, Ram Krishnan will support PepsiCo’s efforts in building a data driven demand ecosystem, transforming its portfolio, accelerating innovation, and building foundational eCommerce, Revenue Management, and Go-to-Market capabilities.
In May, PepsiCo appointed Pioneer Foods boss Tertius Carstens as its sub-Saharan Africa chief executive as the company plans to expand and drive profitable growth across the region, through new African headquarters in South Africa.
