Dive Brief:
- Kevin Keane is taking over as president and CEO of American Beverage, the trade group whose members include Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper.
- Keane, who joined American Beverage in 2005, has served as president and CEO on an interim basis since February after his predecessor, Katherine Lugar, left the association.
- The industry veteran officially takes the helm as the beverage industry deals with issues such as inflation, climate change and recycling. In 2019 ABA and its members launched the Every Bottle Back campaign, an industry effort to boost plastic bottle collection and recycling.
Dive Insight:
In naming Keane to the CEO post, American Beverage is going with a leader who is familiar with the industry and the topics that are most important to its members.
“Kevin has an exceptional depth of knowledge and experience to bring to bear in this role,” Matthew Dent, American Beverages chair and the CEO of Buffalo Rock Company, a longtime Pepsi bottler in Alabama.
Keane has served on the leadership team of American Beverage for nearly 20 years and has overseen a wide range of industry initiatives while managing a team in Washington, D.C., and in states across the country. Prior to taking the CEO post, he served as executive vice president of the government and public affairs department for the association.
American Beverage is the latest trade group in the food and beverage industry to see a change in leadership at the top during the last year. The Consumer Brands Association named David Chavern, the head of a news industry trade group, as its CEO, and the Beer Institute picked Brian Crawford to its top post.
