PURCHASE, N.Y., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP) today announced that its Board of Directors has elected Michelle Gass as an independent member of the Board, effective March 6, 2019. Ms. Gass, 51, currently serves as Chief Executive Officer and a director of Kohl's Corporation, a leading omnichannel retailer. 

"Michelle is a strong global executive with a proven track record and deep knowledge in the consumer products and retail industries," said PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta. "PepsiCo will benefit from her experience transforming retail through technology and the vast marketing, product innovation, and consumer branding capabilities she brings after serving in senior roles at Kohl's, Starbucks and Procter & Gamble."

Prior to assuming the role of CEO of Kohl's in 2018, Gass served as the company's Chief Merchandising & Customer Officer.  She joined Kohl's in 2013 as Chief Customer Officer. Previously, Gass served in a variety of management positions with Starbucks Corporation from 1996 to 2013, including most recently as President, Starbucks Coffee EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) from 2011 to 2013, President, Seattle's Best Coffee, Executive Vice President, Global Marketing and Category and various leadership roles in other brand, creative, marketing and strategy functions. Prior to Starbucks, Ms. Gass was with The Procter & Gamble Company.

"We welcome Michelle to the PepsiCo Board of Directors," said Daniel Vasella, chairman of the Board's Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.  "Her insights and experience transforming business to adapt to and embrace emerging opportunities will be valuable to us as we continue to invest in capabilities that create shareholder value and drive sustainable long-term growth."

Gass has served as a director of Kohl's since she began serving as CEO in 2018. She previously served on the boards of Ann Inc. from 2008 to 2013 and Cigna Corporation from 2014 to 2017.

She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an M.B.A. from University of Washington.

About PepsiCo 
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $64 billion in net revenue in 2018, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker and Tropicana. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Convenient Foods and Beverages by Winning with Purpose. "Winning with Purpose" reflects our ambition to win sustainably in the marketplace and embed purpose into all aspects of the business.  For more information, visit www.pepsico.com

Cautionary Statement
Statements in this communication that are "forward-looking statements" are based on currently available information, operating plans and projections about future events and trends. Terminology such as "estimate," "expect," "may," "plan," "position," "will" or similar statements or variations of such words and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such terms. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: changes in demand for PepsiCo's products, as a result of changes in consumer preferences or otherwise; changes in laws related to the use or disposal of plastics or other packaging of PepsiCo's products; changes in, or failure to comply with, applicable laws and regulations; imposition or proposed imposition of new or increased taxes aimed at PepsiCo's products; imposition of labeling or warning requirements on PepsiCo's products; PepsiCo's ability to compete effectively; failure to realize anticipated benefits from PepsiCo's productivity initiatives;  failure to successfully complete or integrate acquisitions and joint ventures into PepsiCo's existing operations; or to complete or manage divestitures or refranchisings; changes in estimates and underlying assumptions regarding future performance that could result in an impairment charge; increase in income tax rates, changes in income tax laws or disagreements with tax authorities; PepsiCo's ability to recruit, hire or retain key employees or a highly skilled and diverse workforce; loss of, or a significant reduction in sales to, any key customer; disruption to the retail landscape, including rapid growth in hard discounters and the e-commerce channel; climate change or water scarcity, or legal, regulatory or market measures to address climate change or water scarcity; or other factors that may adversely affect the price of PepsiCo's publicly traded securities and financial performance.

For additional information on these and other factors that could cause PepsiCo's actual results to materially differ from those set forth herein, please see PepsiCo's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. PepsiCo undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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SOURCE PepsiCo, Inc.