Kellogg Names Gutierrez President, Hoping to Stem Slide

Kellogg Co. named 23-year veteran Carlos Gutierrez as president and chief operating officer Tuesday, positioning him to take over the world’s largest cereal company as it struggles to stem a slide in market share.

Gutierrez, 44, is seen as the heir apparent to Chairman and Chief Executive Arnold Langbo, 61, analysts said. He fills the No. 2 position at the maker of Rice Krispies and Frosted Flakes, which had been vacant since 1992.

Gutierrez, who is credited with building Kellogg’s Latin American business, is considered an aggressive executive who may push for swift action, analysts said. Langbo hasn’t been able to beat back low-priced competitors, which have cut the company’s U.S. market share to almost 32% from 35% in just two years.

Gutierrez was in charge of Kellogg’s Asia-Pacific division and global business development and will now oversee its North American and Latin American units.

Analysts expect Gutierrez to play a key role in developing Kellogg’s strategy in the U.S., which accounts for two-thirds of its profits.

Kellogg said Langbo, who has been treated for prostate cancer during the past year, is healthy, and Gutierrez’s promotion is unrelated to that issue.

Shares of Battle Creek, Mich.-based Kellogg slipped 19 cents to close at $40.31 on the NYSE.

In the past 52 weeks, the shares have fallen 2.1%, even as the Standard & Poor’s food company index has risen 30%. Since 1992, Kellogg’s shares have risen about 20%, while the S&P; food index has jumped about 115%.

Gutierrez joined Kellogg in 1975 as a sales representative in Mexico City, and was promoted seven years later to oversee Latin American marketing services. In 1989, he was placed in charge of Kellogg Canada and later moved to Battle Creek to head up the company’s product development program.

In 1994, he was placed in charge of Kellogg’s Asia-Pacific unit, and two years later, was placed in charge of global business development, a position he will still hold.