Ian Ellington, SVP and Chief Category Officer, PepsiCo Europe, has been elected president of UNESDA, Soft Drinks Europe, representing the non-alcoholic drinks industry in Europe.  He takes up his two-year mandate from 1 January 2021.

Assuming the presidency from Tim Brett of The Coca-Cola Company, Mr Ellington acknowledged that UNESDA faced a full agenda over the coming years as it looked to drive further progress in the areas of circularity and responsibility.

”UNESDA has upheld the interests of our industry for more than 60 years and taken bold, EU-wide initiatives in the areas of sustainable packaging, sugar reduction and responsibility towards children,” said Ellington

“I look forward to leading our sector as we commit to further actions in each of these areas: supporting the EU commitment to a carbon-neutral Europe by 2050 through creating circularity for soft drinks packaging; continuing our sugar and calorie reduction journey that has seen an average 26% reduction in calories in soft drinks in recent years; and strengthening our commitments to behave responsibly towards children through our advertising and schools policies.”

Europe’s soft drinks industry is a significant contributor to the European economy providing growth, jobs and added value throughout its €185 billion supply chain. It supports over 1.7 million jobs and delivers almost €30 billion in tax contributions to EU member states.  There are some 424 soft drinks production and bottling plants right across Europe supplied with ingredients by over 137,000 arable farms and growers.

 Ian Ellington leads the Marketing and Insights function for PepsiCo Europe across its snacks, beverages and nutrition businesses. Prior to his current role, Ian was General Manager of PepsiCo in the UK. Ian joined PepsiCo in 2008 from Mars Confectionery where he worked in marketing, sales and strategy roles in both the UK and Europe.  He is married with four children and an active cyclist and skier as well as a football and rugby fan.

For further information contact:

Sam Rowe, UNESDA communications: +32 475 361286 or srowe@unesda.eu