Sally Grimes Named CEO Of Beverage Giant, Maker Of Johnnie Walker

 Photo: Tyson Foods Inc.

India-West News Desk

CHICAGO, IL Diageo, the beverage giant that makes Guinness and Johnnie Walker has appointed Sally Grimes as Chief Executive Officer, North America, effective October 1.

North America is Diageo’s largest market and since fiscal 19, has grown 41%, in terms of net sales on a constant basis.

Diageo said in its announcement that Grimes with her 25 years experience in the food and beverage sector, “is a proven leader in consumer goods and is well-known as a world-class innovator and brand builder.

She was most recently the Chief Executive Officer at Clif Bar & Company, the leading maker of organic energy bars in North America.

Previously, as Group President of the Prepared Foods segment of Tyson Foods, America’s largest food company, she ran a $10bn, 25,000-person organization, reporting to the Global CEO. Grimes’s early career began in banking, followed by multiple positions within large consumer goods companies, from Kraft Foods to Newell Brands.

She has been named Fast Company’s “Top 100 Most Creative People in Business” and Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women to Watch.”  Grimes, the company said, “is an experienced non-executive director, having worked on a number of boards, including on the board of Beyond Meat, Inc., Continental Grain Company and Silver Oak Winery.”

Grimes, whose name is Shobana goes by the name Sally, who was a good friend of her mother. Born to immigrant parents, Grimes was raised in Illinois where her parents worked. She is now married Steve Grimes, the CEO of Retail Properties of America and together they have a daughter and son.

She received an undergraduate degree from Valparaiso University and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.