PepsiCo South Africa has appointed Riaan Heyl as its new CEO effective from 1 May to replace Tertius Carstens, who is retiring after almost 30 years with the company.

Heyl, a chartered accountant, joined the then Pioneer Foods in 2000 and has held senior leadership positions in finance and general management over the years.

He led the essential foods portfolio within Pioneer Foods from 2017, before taking on the role of vice president of go-to-market and commercial integration across the South African portfolio after PepsiCo’s acquisition of Pioneer in 2020. 

Heyl had served as PepsiCo South Africa’s COO since January this year.

Eugene Willemsen, PepsiCo’s CEO of Africa, Middle East and South Asia, said Heyl had “proven himself to be an outstanding leader” over his long career at Pioneer, adding he had been at the “forefront of building one PepsiCo in South Africa commercially and culturally”.

Heyl said his appointment was an “extraordinary opportunity to lead one of the best food and beverage businesses in South Africa”.