The Coca‑Cola Company Announces Leadership Changes in Customer Commercial and McDonald’s Teams

The Coca-Cola Company today announced leadership transitions for its Customer Commercial team and The McDonald’s Division, which manages the company’s global partnership with McDonald’s.

Beginning Nov. 1, Roberto Mercadé, who currently serves as president of The McDonald’s Division, will become Chief Customer & Commercial Officer, reporting to Global Chief Marketing and Customer Commercial Officer Manolo Arroyo. Mercadé succeeds Jorge Garduño, who stepped down from the role Aug. 31 after a 34-year career with the company.

Mercadé will be succeeded as president of The McDonald’s Division by Pamela Stewart, who currently serves as Chief Customer Officer, Retail for Coca-Cola’s North America operating unit. Stewart will report to CEO Henrique Braun. Stewart will begin her new role Nov. 1.

About Roberto Mercadé

Mercadé has been president of The McDonald’s Division since 2023. Prior to that, he was Mexico zone president for the company.

Mercadé joined Coca‑Cola in 1992 as a production services manager in Puerto Rico. He went on to hold a number of roles before being named general manager of the Venezuela & Caribbean franchise unit in 2006.

In 2011, he became general manager in South Africa. In 2014, Mercadé moved to Australia to lead the South Pacific business unit. He returned to Latin America in 2018 as president of the Latin Center business unit.

Mercadé serves on the board of Coca-Coca Andina as well as The Georgia Tech Advisory Board and Ronald McDonald House of Atlanta.

Mercadé holds a degree in industrial engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

About Pamela Stewart

Stewart has served as Chief Customer Officer, Retail for the North America operating unit since 2023, leading a 110-customer organization that includes 25 global customers. During her tenure, company brands have maintained category leadership and delivered more than twice the growth of the leading competitor. Previously, Stewart was president of West Zone Franchise Operations – NAOU.

Stewart joined Coca‑Cola in 2000. Her career experience includes foodservice, on-premise and retail customer leadership; franchise operations; finance; and general management. She has held roles at Coca‑Cola, its bottling system and in the telecommunications industry.

Stewart is a director of Utz Brands and serves on the boards of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, FMI, Girls Inc. and Oglethorpe University.

Stewart holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Georgia State University, an MBA from Oglethorpe University and a Harvard Business School executive education certification.

Stewart’s successor will be named at a later date.

About The Coca‑Cola Company

The Coca‑Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories. Our company’s purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference. We sell multiple billion-dollar brands across several beverage categories worldwide. Our portfolio of sparkling soft drink brands includes Coca‑Cola, Sprite and Fanta. Our water, sports, coffee and tea brands include Dasani, smartwater, vitaminwater, Topo Chico, BODYARMOR, Powerade, Costa, Georgia, Fuze Tea, Gold Peak and Ayataka. Our juice, value-added dairy and plant-based beverage brands include Minute Maid, Simply, innocent, Del Valle, fairlife and Santa Clara. We’re constantly transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to bringing innovative new products to market. We seek to positively impact people’s lives, communities and the planet through water replenishment, packaging recycling, sustainable sourcing practices and carbon emissions reductions across our value chain. Together with our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide. Learn more at www.coca-colacompany.com