Kraft Heinz to name CEO Patricio as chair

(Reuters) – Packaged food maker Kraft Heinz Co said on Friday it plans to appoint Chief Executive Officer Miguel Patricio as its chair, replacing Alexandre Behring who will retire at the annual shareholder meeting in May.

Patricio, 55, joined Kraft’s board in March last year and has previously served as the marketing head of Budweiser maker Anheuser-Busch InBev.

“We look forward to working with Miguel as Chair,” Berkshire Hathaway’s Greg Abel said in a statement. The Warren Buffett-led company is Kraft Heinz’s largest shareholder, according to Refinitiv data.

Kraft Heinz also said that it had nominated James Park, who co-founded Fitbit Inc, as a board member.

The packaged food company sailed past market estimates for quarterly earnings earlier this week as it benefited from higher prices.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)