TORONTO, April 8, 2026 /CNW/ - Retail Council of Canada (RCC) and Food Health & Consumer Products of Canada are proud to recognize Cara Keating, CEO of PepsiCo Canada., with the Canadian Grand Prix Lifetime Achievement Award, in honour of her exceptional leadership, industry impact, and enduring commitment to Canada's retail and consumer packaged goods sectors.
The Canadian Grand Prix Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes individuals or families who have demonstrated outstanding service and dedication to the Canadian retail and grocery industries. Recipients reflect the industry's spirit of community and trust. They have demonstrated a lifelong commitment to their companies' growth and innovation, to the communities they serve, and to philanthropy.
As CEO of PepsiCo Canada, Cara leads more than 12,000 associates across 13 manufacturing facilities and hundreds of distribution locations, overseeing a portfolio of iconic brands such as Lay's, Doritos, Pepsi-Cola, Gatorade, Quaker and bubly sparkling water. Her 22-year career with the company is a masterclass in earned progression. Under her leadership, PepsiCo Canada integrated its foods and beverages businesses to form Canada's largest CPG company. The business is now bringing even more smiles to Canadians with locally manufactured products, community investments, and sustainability efforts such as the company's recent expansion of its regenerative agriculture efforts which added 500,000 acres of Canadian farmland to the program.
Since joining in 2004, Cara has moved through field operations, national sales, strategy & planning and general management. Previously, as President of PepsiCo Foods Canada, she led the Frito Lay Canada and Quaker Canada businesses through a period of meaningful transformation, deepening customer partnerships and positioning the portfolio for long-term growth. Most recently, as Chief Customer Officer for PepsiCo Foods North America, she held strategic accountability for a nearly $26 billion snack and convenient foods business, working across a diverse retail and foodservice customer base to drive innovation and strengthen go-to-market capabilities.
As committed to developing people as she is to building relationships with customers and partners, Cara's influence extends well beyond her own teams and into the broader industry. As executive sponsor of PepsiCo's Women's Inclusion Network (WIN), she helped expand the employee resource group across Canada, earning the PepsiCo Global Harvey C. Russell Award for her contributions in expanding inclusion at PepsiCo. She has been named one of Canadian Grocer's Star Women in Grocery in 2017, a Life Member Industry Builder Award from the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers in 2022 and serves on the Board of Directors for the Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada (FHCP).
"In an industry defined by change, Cara has been a constant force for progress," said Michael Graydon, CEO, FHCP. "She has grown one of Canada's most iconic CPG portfolios with discipline and vision, while never losing sight of the people and communities behind it."
"Cara Keating has spent decades strengthening the retailer-supplier relationship in ways that have made the entire industry better," said Kim Furlong, President and CEO, RCC. "Her commitment to collaboration and to developing the next generation of leaders makes her an entirely deserving recipient of this award."
Cara Keating joins a distinguished list of past Lifetime Achievement and Trailblazer recipients from across Canada that include Burnbrae Farms President & CEO, Margaret Hudson, Kruger Products CEO Dino Bianco, Sobeys Inc. President and CEO Michael Medline, METRO Inc. EVP Carmen Fortino and Unilever Canada President Gary Wade.
The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Cara Keating at RCC's Canadian Grand Prix Awards Gala on June 3, 2026, at the Toronto Congress Centre. The Gala will mark the closing celebration of RCCSTORE26, RCC's premier retail industry conference. Tickets for the Gala are available at RCCGrandPrix.ca.
About Retail Council of Canada
Retail is Canada's largest private-sector employer with over 2.3 million Canadians working in our industry. This sector is a major economic contributor, generating more than $101 billion annually in wages and employee benefits. In 2025, core retail sales (excluding vehicles and gasoline) exceeded $532 billion. Retail Council of Canada (RCC) members account for more than two thirds of these core retail sales and 95 per cent of the grocery market. Our membership extends across the country, embracing over 65,000 storefronts in diverse formats such as department, grocery, specialty, discount, independent retailers, online merchants, and quick service restaurants. As the Voice of Retail™ in Canada, RCC, a not-for-profit, industry-funded association, proudly represents retail businesses of all sizes, from small independents to large national chains, in communities nationwide.
About Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada
FHCP is the voice of the food, health, and consumer product industry that employs more than 350,000 Canadians across businesses of all sizes that manufacture and distribute the safe, high-quality products that are at the heart of healthy homes, healthy communities, and a healthy Canada. Learn more at www.fhcp.ca and www.oneveryshelf.ca and follow us at @FHCP_PASC.
SOURCE Retail Council of Canada
Santo Ligotti, VP Marketing & Membership, [email protected]; Anthony Fuchs, Vice President, Communications, Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada, [email protected]
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