HERSHEY, Pa. — The Hershey Co. board has elected John P. Bilbrey as executive vice president and chief operating officer, a newly created position at the company.
The chocolate and food manufacturer said late Tuesday that the move is effective immediately. Bilbrey, currently senior vice president at the company and president of Hershey North America, will continue to report to president and chief executive officer David West.
Bilbrey brings 30 years of consumer packaged goods experience in the United States and international markets to this newly created role, according to Hershey. He will be responsible for the company’s daily operations and global commercial activities, leading the supply chain as well as realigned geographic regions, including the United States, the Americas and Asia. He will also lead two newly created global strategic business units (SBU), the Chocolate SBU and the Sugar Confection SBU.
"J.P. has an extensive record of success in delivering global growth and in building successful teams at Hershey," West said in a statement. "In this new role, J.P. will ensure that we continue our unrelenting focus on building on our competitive advantage in the U.S. while at the same time we focus on developing other international markets. We will continue to make the investments that will enable us to build scale in key growth markets such as China and Mexico. This new structure will enable Hershey to build formulas for repeatable success in our global markets. J.P.’s global experience and knowledge of our business will ensure that more and more consumers around the world will come to recognize the quality and fun represented by Hershey’s brands."
As senior vice president and president of Hershey North America, Bilbrey has been responsible for Hershey’s U.S. and Canadian businesses. Hershey said he has played a key leadership role in the company’s turnaround since the creation and implementation of the new consumer demand landscape as well as in establishing Hershey’s presence in markets worldwide. Before that position, Bilbrey served as senior vice president and president of Hershey International, where he was responsible for directing global businesses and executing international strategy.
"This new structure will enable Dave West to have more focus on the strategic and business development initiatives that will ensure Hershey delivers disciplined global expansion while it maintains its current momentum," stated Hershey chairman James Nevels. "The new structure also strengthens our regions and enables us to more fully leverage our brands around the world. J.P. will lead the international rollout of our consumer demand landscape, ensuring that best practices and resources are shared globally."
Bilbrey joined Hershey in 2003 from Mission Foods, where he was senior vice president. Before that, he was president and CEO of Danone Waters of North America, a division of Paris-based Groupe Danone. In addition, he spent 22 years at Procter & Gamble Co.
