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Diving overview:
- Kraft Heinz on Wednesday named former Kellanova leader Nicolas Amaya as president of its North American operations, the ketchup maker’s largest market.
- Amaya, former president of Kellanova’s North American operations, succeeds Pedro Navio, who will step down on February 22 after eight years. Navio will serve as advisor until March 6.
- The appointment comes just over a week after Kraft Heinz announced it would halt a planned spinoff, with the Lunchable maker’s new CEO Steve Cahillane saying the company’s problems are “fixable.”
Dive Insights:
As new CEO Steve Cahillane tries to right the ship at Kraft Heinz, he turns to a familiar face in Kellanova for help.
Before joining Kraft Heinz last January, Cahillane was CEO of Kellogg and led Kellanova, a snack spinout of the Pop Tarts and Pringles maker that was sold to Mars for $36 billion. Cahillane joined Kraft Heinz in hopes of repeating his performance at Kellogg, but ultimately decided owners Oscar Mayer needed to invest more in the portfolio before a split.
As head of Kraft Heinz’s largest market, Amaya will be responsible for executing much of Cahillane’s plan to return the company to growth. The company plans to invest $600 million in areas such as marketing and “product excellence” to bring back consumers. They can also lower prices, a strategy deployed by other CPGs, including General Mills and Pepsico.
Amaya, who started at Kellogg in 2001, has held a variety of leadership positions across the company’s cereal, frozen and snack businesses in the U.S. and Latin America. As head of Kellanova’s North American operations, he developed the company’s commercial strategy and operational performance, Kraft Heinz reported.
Cahillane said in a statement that he has “worked closely” with Amaya for several years at Kellogg and Kellanova and has “great confidence in his leadership abilities.”
“Nico is a proven leader with extensive experience driving growth and transformation in complex and competitive markets,” added Cahillane. “As we continue to transform and build momentum across our North American operations, Nico brings the right combination of commercial rigor, operational excellence and people leadership to accelerate this progress.”
Kraft Heinz said organic net sales fell 4.2% to $6.3 billion during its most recent quarter. Net sales in the upcoming fiscal year 2026 are expected to decrease by 1.5-3.5% compared to the previous year.
