Maria Pia De Caro
EVP Integrated Operations and Sustainability & Responsibility
Pernod Ricard
Maria Pia De Caro
EVP Integrated Operations and Sustainability & Responsibility
Pernod Ricard
ABOUT THE WINNER
Maria Pia De Caro trained as a mechanical engineer in Rome and still calls factory operators the kings and queens of any supply chain, convinced that the magic of a great operation lives in the people who run it.
After 25 years building operations across P&G, Mondelez, Unilever, and Nomad Foods, she joined Pernod Ricard in 2023. Today, as EVP Integrated Operations and Sustainability & Responsibility, she leads a global operations function through one of the most ambitious transformations in the spirits industry.
Her philosophy is simple and stubborn: the leader works for the team, not the other way around.
Congratulations, Maria Pia De Caro!
Case Study Highlights
Maria Pia De Caro leads operations and sustainability for Pernod Ricard’s 6,000-person team across every continent, united by one purpose: turning grain and grape into moments of conviviality.
After more than 30 years in the business, her answer to what drives performance keeps coming back to the same thing: people.
When people are trusted, stretched, and connected to something bigger than their function, she says, they do not just deliver their goals, they surprise you.
This year, Maria Pia brought Pernod Ricard’s operations functions together into one integrated organization, a shift she says succeeded because people stopped protecting their part of the business and started owning the whole, the shift that activates growth.