XPO Names Pelleissone and Santoro to Senior Executive Roles

August 3, 2020  by Laurie Northington in Executive Changes, Industry   

“Eduardo and Alex are rare, talented operators who will work with our business leaders to turbocharge our profit improvement initiatives,” said Bradley Jacobs, chairman and CEO. “Both have deep C-suite experience and track records of creating substantial value for multinational public companies. Their considerable strengths complement our constant drive for improvement.”

Pelleissone joins XPO with 20 years of experience leading multinational operations in the food, logistics and transportation industries. He was most recently with Kraft Heinz Company and its predecessor H.J. Heinz for six years, where he led key strategic projects and served as executive vice president of global operations. While with Kraft Heinz, Pelleissone transformed the company’s global infrastructure, quality initiatives and financial performance, saving approximately $3 billion in costs while improving operational excellence.

Prior to Kraft Heinz, Pelleissone held executive roles with America Latina Logistica SA (ALL) during 14 years with the rail logistics leader. His positions with ALL included chief executive officer, chief operating officer and commercial vice president of the agriculture division, as well as chairmanships of two ALL subsidiaries: cargo services provider Brado Logistica and road transportation provider Ritmo Logistica. Pelleissone holds a master’s degree in logistics, operations and services from COPPEAD Graduate School of Business in Brazil, and has completed the executive program of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Santoro has two decades of executive experience with industry leaders, including Restaurant Brands International, Inc. (RBI), parent company of Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes. Santoro served as chief supply chain and operations officer for RBI, and most recently was president of Popeyes – a flagship subsidiary of RBI and majority owner 3G Capital. While with Popeyes, he led the company to become one of the fastest-growing quick service restaurant brands in the world and doubled EBITDA in three years as one of the architects of its hugely successful chicken sandwich.

Earlier, Santoro held executive positions in Latin America for 17 years, including chief executive officer, president and vice president of logistics for America Latina Logistica, senior operations manager for Danone, and finance and distribution manager for Anheuser-Busch InBev. He has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Faculdades Salvador in Brazil, and has completed advanced management programs at the Wharton School and the MIT Sloan School of Management.