ARAMARK announced today that its board of directors has elected Eric J. Foss as chief executive officer and president of the company, effective immediately. 

Foss, 53, was also elected to the ARAMARK board of directors. Joseph Neubauer, who served as CEO for 29 years, will remain as chairman of the board.

Foss led the Pepsi Beverages Company, a division of PepsiCo with about $20 billion in revenue and 80,000 employees, as CEO beginning in 2010. During his tenure, he guided the reintegration of Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) and Pepsi Americas (PAS) into PepsiCo. 

Before the merger of PBG/PAS with PepsiCo, Foss was Chairman and CEO of the publicly traded PBG. Throughout his 30 years in the Pepsi system, he has been recognized as an accomplished global business leader, a world-class operator with experience in more than 30 countries and a builder of talented and diverse teams. 

“Eric Foss is an outstanding leader with extensive experience running global enterprises,” Neubauer says. “He has a proven track record of delivering impressive results while building exceptional relationships with business partners, clients and employees. I am delighted to have an executive of Eric’s caliber lead ARAMARK forward.”

“I am very pleased to have been selected to lead this great company and outstanding team,” Foss says. “ARAMARK is a much admired organization and I am honored to be chosen to build upon its success. I look forward to a bright future here as we create the next impressive chapter in the history of ARAMARK.”

“The Board is very grateful for the transformative contributions that Joe Neubauer has made to ARAMARK over the past 30 years,” says Robert Callander, the chairman of the compensation and human resources committee of the ARAMARK Board. “We are confident in our future as we welcome Eric Foss. He has a broad range of leadership experience, extensive capabilities and a long-term track record of success.”