PURCHASE, N.Y. — Steven Williams has been promoted to chief executive officer of PepsiCo Foods North America, which includes Frito-Lay North America and Quaker Foods North America. He succeeds Vivek Sankaran, who will leave PepsiCo, Inc. on April 12 to become president and c.e.o. of Albertsons Companies, Inc.

Mr. Williams was most recently senior vice-president and chief commercial officer for Frito-Lay’s U.S. operations. Previously, he was division vice-president for the Eastern division of Frito-Lay, the global senior vice-president of PepsiCo’s Walmart business and the head of sales for various PepsiCo food and beverage brands, including Gatorade, Tropicana and Quaker. Mr. Williams joined PepsiCo in 2001 as part of the company’s acquisition of the Quaker Oats Co., which he joined in 1997.

“Steven is the ideal leader for our North America food businesses, and his appointment is a testament to our strong bench of talent,” said Ramon Laguarta, chairman and c.e.o. of PepsiCo. “He has deep knowledge of the industry and our business, and we will greatly benefit from his inspirational leadership, broad customer knowledge, intimacy with consumer trends and experience developing talent as we build on our already strong foundation.”