Three More Heinz Executives Leaving

H.J. Heinz Co. said three more longtime executives are leaving, in the second major shake-up of top management in the seven months since the food company was bought by private-equity firm 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

The departing executives include Brendan Foley, a veteran of more than 15 years who was appointed head of Heinz's North American division in June, when the acquisition was completed. Also leaving are Fernando Pocaterra, a Heinz employee of more than 30 years who has headed Latin America operations since 2005, and Kristen Clark, who started with Heinz in 2000 and headed world-wide human resources after serving as president of Heinz Canada.

Heinz said Eduardo Luz, who most recently was managing director of Heinz's North American consumer products business, will replace Mr. Foley, and report to Chief Executive Bernardo Hees. Melissa Werneck, who has been senior vice president of performance and IT, will add global human resources to her portfolio. Heinz said it would name a successor to Mr. Pocaterra later. The changes took effect Friday.

"These changes were made to better position the company for success in 2014 and beyond," Heinz spokesman Michael Mullen said in a statement. He didn't elaborate on the reason.

Heinz announced in April that Mr. Hees, a partner at 3G, would replace longtime Heinz CEO William Johnson once the deal was complete. Soon after the closing, Mr. Hees announced a slate of nearly a dozen senior executive departures and a similar number of new appointments, including those of Mr. Foley and Ms. Clark.

Mr. Hees also has eliminated about 600 corporate jobs, and announced plans to close three factories that will result in more than 1,000 other layoffs. Heinz has said its efforts are designed to improve efficiency, and that it is also adding a total of several hundred workers at several locations.

The latest executive changes were reported earlier by Bloomberg News.

Write to Annie Gasparro at [e-mail]

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