Coca-Cola faucets COO Henrique Braun to switch James Quincey as CEO in 2026

Coca-Cola Chief Working Officer Henrique Braun will succeed James Quincey as CEO subsequent yr, the corporate stated Wednesday, as Coke and its rivals navigate tepid shopper demand for mushy drinks.

The change will take impact on March 31, and Braun will likely be nominated to the corporate’s board of administrators, Coca-Cola stated. Quincey will keep on with the corporate as govt chairman of its board.

Quincey, 60, has held the highest job on the beverage big since 2017. Throughout that point, he oversaw the refranchising of Coke’s bottling system, the corporate’s technique via the Covid pandemic and its deal with drinks perceived as more healthy.

Braun, 57, has held numerous roles at Coke since becoming a member of the corporate in 1996, the identical yr that Quincey joined. Braun grew to become COO in the beginning of the yr.

In a launch, Coca-Cola stated Braun will deal with figuring out new development alternatives all over the world, higher filling shopper wants and enhancing the corporate’s know-how.

The management change comes because the beverage firm tries to reverse slower demand for its sodas, which nonetheless account for a major quantity of its world gross sales. In Coke’s third-quarter, world unit case quantity — which strips out pricing and international forex adjustments — rose 1% after falling within the earlier three-month interval.

Quincey has stated lower-income shoppers have purchased fewer of its drinks, and the corporate has rolled out cheaper and smaller variations of its merchandise to attempt to reverse the development. Nevertheless, pricier manufacturers like Smartwater and Fairlife have carried out higher than its soda section in latest quarters, suggesting that customers are prepared to pay extra for some manufacturers.

Coca-Cola has additionally largely outperformed rival Pepsico throughout Quincey’s tenure, partially attributable to its stronger out-of-home enterprise in venues like eating places and film theaters.

Coke can be profitable the soda wars. Its namesake soda has held onto its spot because the best-selling soda within the U.S., and Sprite surpassed Pepsi to turn into the No. 3 soda within the nation.

Coke shares have been largely unchanged in prolonged buying and selling Wednesday. The corporate’s inventory has climbed almost 13% this yr, whereas Pepsi shares have fallen greater than 1%.

Coke’s market cap of greater than $300 billion outstrips that of Pepsi, which has a market worth of roughly $200 billion.