Kraft Heinz names Anheuser-Busch’s Miguel Patricio as new CEO

Kraft Heinz has appointed Miguel Patricio as chief executive officer, effective July 1, 2019. Patricio will succeed Bernardo Hees, who will remain CEO through June 30.

“Miguel is a proven business leader with a distinguished track record of building iconic consumer brands around the globe, driving top-line revenue growth through a focus on consumer-first marketing, innovation and people development,” said Alex Behring, chairman of Kraft Heinz’s board of directors.

A native of Portugal, Patricio will join Kraft Heinz after a successful career spanning two decades at Anheuser-Busch InBev, where he served as part of the executive leadership team in various positions, driving organic growth and industry-leading margins.

Anheuser-Busch achievements

At AB InBev, Patricio served as the global chief marketing officer from 2012 to 2018. In this role, he helped develop and implement a strategic playbook for global brands Corona, Budweiser and Stella Artois, accelerating organic sales growth to high single digits. This represented more than one-third of AB InBev’s organic growth and accounted for more than 20% of AB InBev’s 2018 year-end global revenues. In his final year as chief marketer, AB InBev was the most awarded brand owner at Cannes Lions 2018, the global benchmark for effective creative marketing communications.

Patricio also was AB InBev’s President of Asia Pacific from 2008-12 and President of North America from 2006-08, providing him with deep experience in growing businesses in developed and emerging markets.

As president of Asia Pacific, Patricio set the foundation for the growth of the China business by defining a long-term strategy focusing on the premium market, growing Budweiser to become the leading brand in China, and expanding the growth of local brands such as Harbin. This led to the transformation of AB InBev Asia Pacific, which grew from revenues of $1 billion in 2008 to $2.7 billion in 2012, making it the number one beer company in China. Asia Pacific now represents approximately 15% of the company’s global revenue and 18% of global volumes.

During his career, Patricio also has worked at Philip Morris, Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson in Latin America, New Jersey and Georgia.

“I want to personally thank Bernardo Hees for leading the company through its first phase,” said Marcel Herrmann Telles, a member of Kraft Heinz’s board of directors. “I’ve worked with Miguel over the course of the past 20 years, and he is a natural business leader. From attracting and nurturing the best talent to leading the turnaround of the AB InBev China business into the phenomenal success it is today, Miguel has one of the best brand-building minds in the industry.”

“Kraft Heinz is an incredible company with iconic brands that are loved around the world,” Patricio said. “It will be a privilege and an honor to lead such a talented group of employees as we focus on the consumer to capitalize on the growth opportunities that exist in the rapidly evolving food industry.”