Thomas K. Hernquist is Executive Vice-President of Foods, Liquids and U.S. Marketing for PBM Products.

He boasts an unparalleled track record of leadership, innovation, and success across a variety of some of America’s most well known and loved brands, including Doritos, Ruffles, Hershey’s, Reese’s, Oreo, Jim Beam, and LifeSavers.

Mr. Hernquist most recently served as Senior Vice President and Global Chief Growth Officer for Hershey Foods Corporation. In this capacity, he was responsible for company-wide strategic plans, global marketing and innovation, research and development, acquisition strategy, and corporate social responsibility. Prior to taking this position, Mr. Hernquist was the Senior Vice President and President of the U.S. Confectionary business unit, with profit and loss responsibility for $4 billion revenue and $1 billion profit for domestic confectionary business. Mr. Hernquist drove significant incremental growth for The Hershey Company with new product launches such as Take 5, Hershey’s Extra Dark Chocolate and numbers snack items such as Reese’s Cookies.

At Fortune Brands, Mr. Hernquist was the Senior Vice President of Global Marketing, with the primary charge of making Jim Beam Brands a leader in brand building and innovation. Among his key accomplishments was elevating the Jim Beam brand to a more premium positioning with comparative advertising on the Jim Beam Black franchise and accelerated pricing. In addition, he hired numerous marketers at all levels which enabled Fortune Brands to enhance its brand building capabilities and then to aggressively pursue acquisitions of additional premium brands. Hernquist also led breakthrough segmentation and brand positioning that helped provide a solid foundation for new product development and brand advertising.

Mr. Hernquist began his tenure at Nabisco as New Business Director and soon became Vice President of Marketing for LifeSavers and then Vice President of Marketing for their 4.0 billion retail cookie and cracker business, where he was able to introduce $300 million in new product revenue annually that represented 8 percent of Nabisco Biscuit’s sales. For example, he oversaw the introductions of Mini Oreo and Nabisco’s entry into the single serve arena as well as numerous customer specific innovations. At the same time, he was able to secure significant promotional partnerships with Coca Cola, Nickelodeon, Kraft, Dale Earnhardt, Universal Studios, and N’Sync, among others.

While at Kraft Foods, in what was then its Entenmann’s division, Mr. Hernquist had full profit and loss responsibility for the $350 million Northeast cake business, managing all cross-functional areas including sales, manufacturing, human resources, marketing, finance, and quality control. In addition, he introduced 33 new products, redirected marketing spending to ensure more effective and efficient programs, and made significant improvements to in-store merchandising, computerized ordering, and distribution processes. Finally, the quality improvement program he implemented there resulted in a 40 percent reduction in customer complaints.

Mr. Hernquist’s responsibilities at PBM include the day-to-day operations of the foods and liquids business units and all U.S. marketing; he will use his expertise to direct and oversee all business and administrative affairs including strategic planning, profit and loss, marketing, and group sales efforts. He will also be charged with using his vast experience to effectively manage staff and ensure that all divisions and operations activities under the PBM umbrella perform at the optimum level while remaining consistent with the company’s goals and objectives.

Mr. Hernquist earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia with a double major in French and Economics, graduating Magna Cum Laude. He received his Master of Business Administration from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College.

Mr. Hernquist is also the Chairperson of the American Marketing Association which is the largest marketing association in the United States.