Global coffee chain Starbucks has appointed Ricardo Arias-Nath as Senior Vice President of Starbucks Latin America and the Caribbean. He succeeds Tom Ferguson who has held the role since August 2022.
As part of the role, Arias-Nath will oversee 1,600 stores in more than 20 markets. He intends to expand the Starbucks Experience while honouring the company’s connection to the region, where it has sourced Arabica coffee since opening its first cafe in Seattle in 1971.
Arias-Nath joined Starbucks in June 2024 after departing from PepsiCo where he held a variety of management roles. This included SVP of Strategy and Transformation, Chief Marketing Officer for Beverages, and Franchise General Manager. In these roles he contributed to various regional growth initiatives while also driving the Farm to Shelf strategy across Latin America for both food and beverage portfolios.
A Starbucks statement said during his career he has developed knowledge and expertise in general management, strategy, marketing and business transformation, and a knowledge of the ever-evolving landscape of consumer goods, media, distribution, and technology sectors.
Arias-Nath’s career commenced at The Procter & Gamble Company where he worked in marketing and finance. In 2000 he ventured into entrepreneurship as Co-founder and CEO of Tokenzone, an entity in the digital asset space (NFTs) and collaborated with major global media brands.
He is an alumnus of Stanford University and holds a Master of Science in Operations Research as well as an undergraduate degree in economics from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Venezuela.
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