Kraft-Heinz Company Canada has confirmed Tony Matta has left his position as CMO to join Starbucks U.S.
Matta will join Starbucks as senior vice-president and general manager of its CPG business, where he will lead the Starbucks U.S. sales and marketing teams within the company’s Global Channel Development organization. He will help to grow the presence of Starbucks-branded products in grocery stores.
Matta is an industry veteran, having held a series of marketing positions with Frito Lay and PepsiCo Foods before joining Kraft Canada as CMO in 2013. He oversaw marketing for Kraft Canada’s beverages, grocery and cheese sectors as well as marketing insights and services and innovation. He kept the role of CMO following the company’s merger with Heinz last year.
A spokesperson for Kraft-Heinz confirmed that Brian Kerr would be taking over as vice-president and CMO. Kerr joined Kraft Foods in 1999 and most recently held the position of VP, cheese and dairy with the Kraft-Heinz Company.
The appointment comes one month after Kraft-Heinz announced a series of other executive changes to its Canadian leadership team, including the retirement of Brian Arbique, VP of sales. Mark Ayer, who began his career with Kraft over 15 years ago, also left the position of general manager of food service to pursue other opportunities.
This story originally appeared at CanadianGrocer.com.
