Kraft Heinz has named Todd Kaplan CMO of its North American operations, effective August 5. Kaplan will lead marketing for the $22 billion packaged foods portfolio, which includes Kraft and Heinz’s namesake brands and dozens of other products, including Oscar Mayer, Velveeta, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Ore-Ida and Jell-O. He will also have a role in Kraft Heinz’s joint ventures with NotCo and Just Spices, and will oversee an in-house content studio called The Kitchen, according to details shared with Marketing Dive.
Todd Kaplan, Kraft Heinz North America CMO
Licensed by Kraft Heinz
“I look forward to leading a team that unleashes the potential of this incredible brand by elevating creativity, connecting more deeply with the culture, and leveraging best-in-class marketing, media, and digital capabilities to fuel the company’s next wave of growth,” Kaplan wrote in a LinkedIn post announcing the news.
Kaplan is tasked with driving deeper connection with Kraft Heinz's consumer culture and implementing a modern marketing capability that can enable the company's “next wave of growth,” the company said in a statement.
The executive comes from PepsiCo to Kraft Heinz, where he spent nearly two decades, most recently as CMO of Pepsi’s flagship brand. Key initiatives underway before Kaplan’s June departure included a major rebranding of Pepsi in 2023. Kaplan’s marketing work for Pepsi has earned him industry praise and landed him on several lists of top CMOs, but the broader business has been under pressure amid increased beverage competition. Last month, Pepsi ceded its longtime No. 2 carbonated soft drink spot to Dr Pepper in the U.S., according to Beverage Digest data.
Kraft Heinz is undergoing its own transformation as younger shoppers move away from traditional packaged foods and struggle with inflation. The company has rebranded a number of its products over the past few years, including Jell-O, Ore-Ida, Kraft Singles, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and Mio, to give them a more modern look.
Oscar Mayer and Kraft have both experienced steep valuation declines before. In May, the Wall Street Journal reported that Kraft Heinz was considering selling hot dog and cold cut supplier Oscar Mayer for between $3 billion and $5 billion.
Kraft Heinz also faced a public relations crisis earlier this year after a Consumer Reports analysis found that its Lunchables boxed lunch kits contained “relatively high” amounts of lead, cadmium and sodium. Consumer Reports said the products tested did not exceed legal or regulatory limits.
Kraft Heinz net sales fell 1.2% year over year in the first quarter, and organic net sales fell 0.5%. The company reports second-quarter results on July 31.
