Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) is kicking off 2025 with a slate of new executive leadership appointments, including new names leading the U.S. Refreshment Beverages division and marketing.
Eric Gorli, formerly KDP’s Chief Commercial Officer, is moving into the role of President, U.S. Refreshment Beverages, overseeing the $9 billion segment which includes CSDs and energy drinks. The move comes nearly 10 years after Gorli first joined KDP and he previously spent two decades with The Coca-Cola Company.
Speaking at BevNET Live Summer 2024 in New York last year, Gorli said that KDP has focused heavily on growing its affiliate and partner brands, like Polar and Electrolit, alongside its owned portfolio.
“Legacy DPSG [Dr Pepper Snapple Group] always had Allied Brands, but it was more transactional or opportunistic,” Gorli said at the conference, noting that since Dr Pepper’s merger with Keurig Green Mountain in 2018 that “It truly has to be a win-win long-term arrangement, and I think that’s a big mindshift in what we saw before.”
Gorli takes over the role from Andrew Archambault, who will leave KDP effective January 31 to join Hershey as President, U.S. Confection.
Sean Cronican, who has served as KDP’s Chief Customer Officer, Large Format since November 2023, will be taking an expanded role leading KDP’s customer-facing teams in the U.S. “including grocery, mass, club, small format, fountain foodservice and e-commerce,” according to the release.
As well, Drew Panayiotou has been named Chief Marketing Officer. Panayiotou joined KDP in November 2024 and in the CMO role will expand “his responsibilities to include Marketing for both U.S. Refreshment Beverages and U.S. Coffee, along with enterprise Marketing Services,” the company said, with an emphasis on “accelerating a digital-first marketing approach”.
The appointments follow last year’s CEO shift, with Tim Cofer assuming the chief executive position from longtime leader Bob Gamgort, who retired in April.
“KDP is evolving our leadership structure to drive the next phase of our growth,” Cofer said in a statement. “We have been intentional about building a deep bench of talent, and we are fortunate to have leaders who are seasoned, forward-thinking and ready to step into these critical roles.”
In addition to top executive appointments, KDP also announced new roles to oversee initiatives including energy drink category expansion.
With Ghost and C4 now both key pillars in its energy strategy, alongside brands such as Bloom and Black Rifle, the company has named Justin Whitmore to the newly created position of President, KDP Energy. Whitmore has served as KDP’s Chief Strategy Officer since 2021 and has been a board member of C4 parent Nutrabolt since 2023, according to LinkedIn.
“GHOST has emerged as a standout brand,” Whitmore wrote on LinkedIn following the company’s $990 million acquisition of the lifestyle brand in October. “By combining the power of KDP with GHOST’s product lineup, we’re confident we can take the brand to new heights. So proud of our team and the work that went into making this a reality.”