SEATTLE Starbucks Corp. appointed former PepsiCo executive Annie Young-Scrivner as its new chief global marketing officer and said it has moved secondary brand Seattle’s Best Coffee into its own business unit among other steps chief executive Howard Schultz said are designed to maintain recent “positive momentum.”
Michelle Gass, a 13-year Starbucks veteran who most recently served as the company’s executive vice president of marketing and category, was named to the new role of president of Seattle’s Best Coffee, or SBC. That newly designated business unit has more than 550 cafes, which are nearly all franchised to others, including book retailer Borders Group Inc., and also supplies coffee to foodservice businesses and retails packaged products.
Starbucks officials also noted that John Culver has assumed the role of president of global consumer products and foodservice, a job the former company senior vice president and president of Starbucks Asia Pacific has handled since February. Culver, who previously had responsibilities overseeing Seattle’s Best Coffee, will work with Gass on a transition.
The new appointees each report directly to Schultz, Starbucks said.
“As we move toward Starbucks new fiscal year, now is the time to keep the positive momentum seen in our U.S. business and build on our global opportunities,” Schultz said in a statement. “Moving SBC into a distinct and separate business unit will provide the focus necessary to enable SBC’s full potential in the specialty coffee marketplace.”
Schultz commented that the personnel changes “will strengthen the expertise of a proven internal leader and enhance the leadership team with diverse talent from outside Starbucks to give us the depth necessary to operate a global business.”
The positive momentum referred to by Schultz is related, in large part, to Starbucks’ better-than-expected third-quarter financial results, when the Seattle-based operator and licensor of 16,729 coffeehouses swung to a profit from a year-earlier loss and reported negative, but improving, same-store sales.
When she starts at Starbucks later this month, new global chief marketing officer Young-Scrivner steps into a marketing effort recently overseen by Gass and chief marketing officer Terry Davenport. Starbucks officials said Young-Scrivner most recently was chief marketing officer and vice president of sales for PepsiCo’s Quaker Foods and Snacks division, and previously was chairman and region president of PepsiCo Foods for Greater China, responsible for the Pepsi, Frito-Lay, Quaker, Tropicana and Gatorade brands.
“Annie brings a wealth of knowledge in international business and a proven track record in global marketing and product strategy, including health and wellness,” Schultz said.
Contact Alan Liddle at [email protected].
