Starbucks shakes up senior management

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Co. is shaking up its senior management team with five promotions and two new appointments. John Culver, head of the China-Asia Pacific region with more than 10 years of Starbucks experience, is being promoted to group president, China and Asia Pacific (CAP), channel development and emerging brands. Jeff Hansberry, a three-year Starbucks veteran who has worked on the channel development and emerging brands team, is being promoted to president of China and Asia Pacific and will report to Culver.



In addition, Starbucks’ head of Americas Cliff Burrows, a 12-year veteran, is being promoted to group president, Americas and U.S., Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Teavana, while Michelle Gass while work on strategic growth initiatives with president/CEO Howard Schultz after spending two years working on growth in the EMEA region. And Kris Engskov, managing director of U.K. and Ireland, is being promoted to senior VP/president of EMEA.



In terms of new appointments, former Sephora executive Sharon Rothstein has joined Starbucks as global chief marketing officer, and Walt Disney Company executive Matt Ryan will join the company next week to head up long-term strategic planning and customer analytics. According to Starbucks, the executive shuffling will advance global growth by taking advantage of executive experience.