Torres will take charge of integrating the coffee business and become chief executive of the newly separated company once the Peet's Coffee and Keurig operations are split off.
Keurig Dr Pepper has recruited Kimberly-Clark executive Russ Torres to serve as chief executive of its coffee spinoff.
The Frisco, Texas-based company said Thursday that Torres, currently president and chief operating officer of Kimberly-Clark, will join on November 3 and serve as CEO of the coffee business segment before the formal separation takes place.
Torres has served as Kimberly-Clark's president since May 2025 and is currently overseeing the consumer giant's merger integration planning related to its $40 billion acquisition of Tylenol maker Kenvue.
Kimberly-Clark said Chief Strategy, Business Development and Administrative Officer Jeff Melucci will take over merger integration planning and related projects, while Dallas-based Chief Financial Officer Nelson Urdaneta will handle synergy execution.
Kimberly-Clark said Torres had been slated to become president and chief operating officer of the combined company after the acquisition, and he will remain until November to assist with the transition. The Kenvue acquisition is on track to close by the end of this year.
Keurig Dr Pepper announced last year that it would pay $18 billion to acquire JDE Peet's, the parent of Peet's Coffee, and separate its Peet's Coffee and Keurig coffee operations into an independent, coffee-focused company.
The company said it aims to complete the separation by early 2027. Torres will lead the integration of the coffee segment and become CEO of the new company once the spinoff is completed.
Keurig Dr Pepper initially selected former Chief Financial Officer Sudhanshu Priyadarshi to serve as CEO of the coffee spinoff, but announced late last year that Priyadarshi would not take the role and would leave the company.
The group later planned for JDE Peet's head Rafael Oliveira to lead the spun-off company, but Oliveira departed to take on management duties at Dutch brewer Heineken.