PepsiCo ceo quits for ‘mystery’ US position

Mystery surrounds the departure of PepsiCo’s chief executive officer for Snack Ventures Europe (SVE), Michael Dolan, who has returned to the US to take up an unspecified post in the company.

He will be replaced by the chief of the UK business Peter Thompson, who will become ceo and president of the operation. Thompson will be replaced by Walkers’ commercial vice president Tony Illsley (in the UK).

A spokeswoman for the company says that it is not known whether Dolan’s US post is a

promotion.

The company is understood to be on the point of making half of its Smith’s snack division marketing department in Belgium redundant in the face of fierce own-label competition.

Walkers has performed strongly in the UK, where Walkers Crisps is the country’s biggest snack brand with sales of about 245m a year (Nielsen). It has a portfolio of strong brands in the sector including Doritos, Quavers and Monster Munch.

SVE is a joint venture between PepsiCo and General Mills.