"On behalf of Starbucks board, leadership team and partners I would like to thank Gerry for his contributions over the past four years," said Howard Schultz, chairman, president and CEO of the coffeehouse chain. "During his time here, he [image-nocss] led global strategy to support Starbucks growth and expansion of our consumer products worldwide. Under his leadership, we expanded our global presence through strategic partnerships and extended the Starbucks Experience outside of our stores. Gerry leaves us with a strong foundation to continue growing our global consumer products, foodservice and Seattle's Best Coffee businesses. While we will miss him, we wish him all the best in his next endeavors."
He added, "We are extremely pleased to welcome John to his new role. John is well suited for this position as he was the leader of foodservice for five years and was responsible for building brand awareness in traditional foodservice venues for several brands within the Starbucks portfolio. Additionally, with his experience in Asia Pacific, one of the fastest growing regions for Starbucks consumer products, he is more than qualified to lead the global consumer products, foodservice and Seattle's Best Coffee teams to continue on their path of profitability and growth globally."
Culver, 48, has been with Seattle-based Starbucks since 2002 and has held leadership roles in the company's foodservice and Starbucks Coffee International business units. As the vice president and general manager of foodservice, he was responsible for leading its sales, marketing and operations. Under Culver's leadership, his team worked to increase the presence of the Starbucks brand with key U.S. customers and to ensure that the quality standards were maintained in more than 15,000 foodservice accounts. Most recently, he was responsible for cultivating the Starbucks Experience for all Starbucks company-operated, joint-venture and licensed markets within the Asia Pacific region. Prior to Starbucks, Culver was vice president of sales for Nestle USA, where he was responsible for foodservice sales and the sales development of more than 30 brands.
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