Rachel Ferdinando is the Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo Foods U.S.
As the CEO of PepsiCo Foods U.S. (PFUS), Rachel Ferdinando leads a core division of PepsiCo’s business in the United States. She oversees a diverse and iconic portfolio of brands including Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Tostitos, Ruffles, Fritos, Stacy’s Pita Chips, SunChips, Sabra and Quaker foods.
Since joining PepsiCo in 2017, Rachel has held several senior leadership roles. Previously, she served as President of PepsiCo Foods Canada, leading Frito-Lay Canada - the country’s largest snack manufacturer - and the legacy Quaker Canada business. Rachel successfully spearheaded transformation efforts with impactful results by enhancing brand relevance, fostering innovation to meet evolving consumer needs, and establishing a robust seed-to-shelf supply chain. These initiatives contributed to strengthening PepsiCo’s market position, improving operational efficiency, and advancing sustainability goals including reducing environmental impact.
Prior to her role in Canada, Rachel served as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Frito-Lay North America, where she oversaw all marketing initiatives including marketing strategy, innovation, insights and media for a portfolio of iconic snack brands. Her groundbreaking work earned widespread recognition, including being named Most Innovative CMO by Business Insider, one of the World’s Most Influential CMOs by Forbes, and Outstanding Marketer in the U.S. by PR Week. Her creative contributions have also been acknowledged globally, serving as a juror in the Creative Strategy category at the 2022 Cannes Lion International Festival.
Rachel brings over two decades of experience in the Consumer-Packaged Goods (CPG) industry with strong end-to-end general management, marketing and portfolio transformation leadership. Before joining PepsiCo, Rachel served as Vice President and Global Sector Leader at Kimberly-Clark Corporation, leading the $6 billion+ global Family Care Sector with brands like Scott and Kleenex. Earlier in her career, she spent over a decade at GlaxoSmithKline in leadership positions of increasing responsibility across sales, global marketing and general management in Europe, North America and Asia.
Rachel holds a First Class Bachelor of Science with Honors in Chemistry from Imperial College London and studied at the l'Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie et de Physique de Bordeaux (ENSCPB). Her board service includes positions with the Food, Health & Consumer Products association of Canada and as Chair of the Consumer Healthcare Committee for the Pharma Association of Malaysia.