PepsiCo Australia has appointed Alessia Taddei as its new Chief Marketing Officer for ANZ Foods, effective from 1 September. Taddei will be responsible for the full marketing agenda across Australia and New Zealand, leading PepsiCo’s food marketing teams and agency partners.

Taddei has been with PepsiCo for nearly seven years and has played a key role in driving the growth and diversification of PepsiCo’s flagship brands, including Smith’s, Red Rock Deli and Bluebird. She replaces Vandita Pandey, who has headed back overseas thanks to a promotion heading up the international beverages, hydration business as VP of marketing.

Pandey has been the CMO of ANZ snacks and beverages at the FMCG giant since September 2020, relocating from the US to take up the position. Her new role sees Pandey relocating to Dublin, Ireland.

In a statement, the FMCG said Taddei's approach has been instrumental in shaping commercial strategy and internal processes at PepsiCo, with some of her initiatives becoming models for other key PepsiCo markets.

“With a category-first approach, Alessia has championed a number of efforts, both in our commercial strategy and internally across PepsiCo, that have now become models for other key PepsiCo markets," Kyle Faulconer, PepsiCo ANZ CEO, said. "She also strengthened the human-centric approach of our Shopper Marketing function and built category strategies to deliver mutually beneficial solutions. We are confident she will continue to lead with creative excellence and help accelerate the growth of our iconic brands.”

Taddei added, “I am incredibly honoured that the business has tasked me with taking the marketing efforts to new heights across our iconic brands. The marketing landscape is constantly evolving and I’m excited by the prospect of driving bold ideas and impactful work, in collaboration with some of the brilliant minds within our PepsiCo network who lead with deep marketing knowledge and strategic thinking every single day.”