The new Heinz Kraft company will not have a marketing boss in its senior team

The new Kraft Heinz company has decided not to appoint a marketing boss to its senior leadership team, with marketing being run out of its business units rather than from a central location.

The merger, which was announced in March and is expected to be completed later this year, will see Kraft marketer Nina Barton, who currently works in its coffee team, take on the top marketing role. Her title will be senior vice president of marketing innovation, research and development.

She will not, however, serve on the 10-strong senior leadership team that will report to the company’s CEO Bernardo Hees.

Instead, Barton will be part of what Kraft Heinz calls an “extended leadership team”. She will report into George Zoghbi, who will take on the role of chief operating officer of the US commercial business having served as Kraft’s COO since February.

The leadership team will, however, have some marketing experience. Matt Hill has been appointed “zone president” of Europe and is on the leadership team. He was formerly CMO at Heinz UK before being promoted to UK president and then zone president of Europe.

The zone presidents for Kraft Heinz’s other business units also all have marketing experience.

Several execs will also leave the business following the merger. These include Jane Hilk, who is currently CMO and president of beverages and snack nuts at Kraft.

Hees says: “The leadership announcement further builds on Heinz’s strong foundation for future growth.

“I am thrilled that this world-class group of executives will join me in taking Heinz to new heights while elevating our iconic global brands, offering superior customer service and ensuring that we continue to work collaboratively and efficiently across our global businesses.”

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Kraft brands such as Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Jell-O and Kool-Aid may be household names across the Atlantic, but so far no attempts have been made to push the brands across the globe. However, that could be about to change after yesterday’s merger deal between Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz to form The Kraft Heinz company, now the fifth largest food and beverage firm in the world.