PepsiCo hires Singaporean Tan Wern-Yuen as Asia-Pacific CEO

SNACK and beverage giant PepsiCo has hired Singaporean Tan Wern-Yuen as chief executive officer (CEO) of Asia-Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and China (APAC) to oversee its operations in the region, starting June 15.

Mr Tan will be based in Singapore and report to PepsiCo chief executive Ramon Laguarta.

He was previously the president and CEO of Walmart China, where he led a team of 100,000 associates responsible for over US$10 billion (S$13.9 billion) in annual revenue across the Walmart, Sam's Club and e-commerce businesses.

Prior to joining Walmart in 2017, Mr Tan was managing director of McDonald's Taiwan. Past roles include being a principal at Boston Consulting Group, as well as a stint at Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry before his transition into the private sector.

Mr Tan takes over as Asia-Pacific CEO from Ram Krishnan, who will now transition fully to his previously announced role as global chief commercial officer of PepsiCo.

Mr Laguarta said: "Wern-Yuen has driven transformative innovation and results at every step of his career and brings deep experience with consumers in this diverse region through positions in retail, food service and consulting."

He added that Mr Tan's leadership will be instrumental as PepsiCo looks to accelerate growth by leveraging its scale and creating more localised solutions in these markets.

Mr Tan said: "With deep roots across this region and an unparalleled offering, PepsiCo is uniquely positioned to expand its market share and existing omnichannel capabilities across APAC."