The Kraft Heinz Company appointed Carlos Abrams-Rivera as its next CEO, effective January 1, 2024. He will also become a members of the Kraft Heinz board, the company announced on August 14.
Until then, Abrams-Rivera will continue in his role as president of the North America Zone with the added responsibilities of becoming President of Kraft Heinz, effective immediately. Abrams-Rivera will take over as CEO from Miguel Patricio, who has served as the company’s CEO since 2019 and chair of the board since 2022.
In his role as executive vice president and president of the North America Zone, Abrams-Rivera has successfully overseen the company’s U.S. and Canadian operations.
“Carlos is the best person to lead the next phase of the Company’s transformation,” said Patricio, CEO and chair of the board. “His strategic and innovative mindset is ideal to continue to propel Kraft Heinz forward on our path to greatness. Since joining Kraft Heinz in 2020, he has consistently delivered strong results in the North American retail and Away From Home businesses. Carlos’ experience in both developed and emerging markets complements our ambition for growth. I feel privileged to entrust Carlos with the leadership of this great company, and I am confident that Kraft Heinz is poised for more growth in the years to come.”
Patricio will transition to a new role as non-executive chair of the board. Since 2019, when Patricio joined the company, he led Kraft Heinz through a period of fundamental change in consumer trends, unprecedented business and global challenges, and consistent periods of top and bottom-line growth.
“We are extremely grateful for Miguel’s leadership over the past four years. He has a deep understanding of marketing and consumers, which was instrumental to the company’s turnaround,” said Jack Pope, lead director of the board. “The transition from Miguel to Carlos reflects the Board’s thoughtful succession planning and we are confident that the Company will continue to accelerate growth with Carlos assuming the role of CEO. He is an experienced leader with a long tenure in the food and beverage industry who has shown consistency and excellence in execution. Carlos’ leadership in transforming North America with innovative partnerships, tech-enabled solutions and developing and attracting world class talent will serve the company well into the future. We look forward to continuing to work with him.”
“I am humbled and honored to be appointed as the new CEO of Kraft Heinz. I would like to thank Miguel for his mentorship, all he has done to rekindle the spirit of Kraft Heinz and our culture, and for his partnership, now and in the future,” stated Abrams-Rivera. “I would also like to thank the Board of Directors for placing its trust in me. Finally, to the thousands of colleagues across Kraft Heinz that have welcomed and trusted me, I am excited to go into a bright future together.”
Kraft Heinz, a diversified food company, is the parent company of Oscar Mayer.
Its turkey slaughtering plant in Newberry, South Carolina, transitioned to a further processing plant with the opening of a new Prestage Farms turkey plant in South Carolina. Kraft-Heinz now buys turkey for further processing from Prestage Farms.
Prior to that transition, Kraft Heinz was the sixth largest turkey producer in the United States. In 2022, it slaughtered 313 million pounds of live turkeys.
