Fonterra has appointed a former marketer for soft drink company Pepsi to run its operations in the USA, Canada, Caribbean and Central America.

Giovanna "Gigi" Vita was formerly senior vice president of marketing at Minneapolis-based PepsiAmericas.

Fontera's managing director of global ingredients, Andrei Mikhalevsky, said Ms Vita had a track record of business profitability, building organisational strength, and delivering a strong customer focus.

Ms Vita has also run global sales training for cereal company Nabisco International and was involved in the integration of the United Biscuits Company in Asia into Nabisco International.

She said in a statement that Fonterra's focus on dairy innovation positioned the New Zealand company well to work with customers to develop the next generation of dairy-based solutions.