Ramon Laguarta is Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo. He joined the company in 1996, becoming CEO in 2018 and Chairman in 2019.
As Chairman and CEO, Ramon is passionate about creating more smiles with every sip and every bite, serving more consumers and more occasions, always, everywhere. He is committed to providing food and drinks made with the highest quality ingredients and building iconic brands that connect with the evolving expectations of people around the world.
Ramon has pivoted the company toward new growth aspirations. He leads with an ambitious vision focused on accelerating PepsiCo’s performance to its full potential as a best-in-class, admired company. This acceleration is within the pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) framework, a strategic end-to-end transformation agenda envisioned by Ramon with sustainability at the center of how to create value and growth, by operating within planetary boundaries and positively impacting people and the planet.
Ramon has focused PepsiCo’s growth strategy on three pillars: portfolio transformation, international expansion and capturing new consumption occasions and being available everywhere.
Grounded in pep+, Ramon is leading an ambitious transformation of PepsiCo’s portfolio into more Positive Choices with less sugar, less sodium, fewer artificial colors and flavors, healthier cooking methods, portion control and more diverse and functional ingredients, like protein, wholegrains and vegetables. This portfolio transformation is helping to aggressively expand PepsiCo’s International business, emphasizing high growth-potential developing markets, and to capture more avenues of growth by reaching into new occasions, with special focus on meals and away-from-home channels.
Relentless until vision becomes execution, Ramon believes operational excellence is critical for success, and he’s working to make PepsiCo a more agile, more efficient company. That’s why he is investing in the architecture of the business: modernizing its supply chain, transforming its go-to-market systems, upgrading systems and technology and scaling digital capabilities like AgentForce AI to achieve greater precision and impact.
As part of delivering high performance and superior execution, Ramon spearheaded the adoption of new leadership behaviors. These behaviors include: be consumer-centric; act as owners; focus and get things done fast; include every voice; raise the bar on talent; celebrate success; and act with integrity.
Ramon’s perspective is shaped by a lifetime in the Food and Beverage industry and his experience living and working on five continents. Prior to becoming CEO, Ramon was President of PepsiCo, responsible for shaping the company’s corporate strategy. In this capacity he oversaw PepsiCo's Global Category Groups; its Global Operations, Corporate Strategy, and Public Policy & Government Affairs functions; and The PepsiCo Foundation.
Between 2015 and 2017, Ramon served as CEO of the sector formerly known as Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa (ESSA), one of PepsiCo’s most complex regions, with responsibility for leading the company’s beverage and food business. Prior to serving as CEO of ESSA, Ramon held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility in Europe, including leading the acquisition and successful integration of the company’s dairy business in Russia. Before joining PepsiCo in 1996, he worked for Chupa Chups, S.A., a leading Spanish confectionery company, managing its growth across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.
In addition to being a member of the PepsiCo Board of Directors, Ramon also serves on the Board of Visa Inc. and the Board of the Business Round Table.
Born and raised in Barcelona, Ramon holds an MBA from ESADE Business School in Spain and a Master in International Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management. Ramon speaks multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Catalan, French, German and Greek. He and his wife, Maria, are the proud parents of three sons.
