Meet Jean Claude Tissot President of Arca Continental

JEAN CLAUDE TISSOT

PRESIDENT COCA-COLA SOUTHWEST BEVERAGES/ ARCA CONTINENTAL

PEOPLE: ONE OF THE BEST STRATEGIES FOR A BEVERAGE

BOTTLER GIANT Bill Sarno

By all accounts, the kick-off of 2020 was going to be one of monumental importance and excitement for Jean Claude Tissot. Newly appointed as the President of Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages (CCSWB), a division of Mexicobased Arca Continental, Jean Claude was eager to begin his tenure with clear strategies in mind. However, we all know that the unexpected came to pass with the shutdowns of COVID-19 in early 2020. CCSWB - one of the nation's largest bottlers delivering its products throughout Texas, and parts of Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas - would be operating as an essential business during a crucial time for its customers. These customers included grocery and convenience stores, as well as working with restaurants of all sizes as they transitioned their operations. The processes of bottling, distributing, and moving beloved Coca-Cola brands of soft drinks, sports drinks and bottled water had to stay on pace, despite the tremendous change in the landscape.

"EVERYTHING is about people,” Tissot says. “Providing employees with the tools and the security they need while helping navigate challenges is a priority. At the same time, we also must stay in tune with the needs of our customers, understanding their challenges to be a true servant leader for what impacts their business.”

As a longtime beverage industry executive with more than two decades of experience, Jean Claude describes an emphasis on being solution-focused as a key element of his management style. This comes from his career devotion to building a company culture of appreciation for its employees as well as a focus on team and customer support, sustainability, technological advances, and community commitment. Certainly, Tissot’s journey to CCSWB has helped to solidify his approach. The Journey Tissot started work as a merchandiser and sales representative in 1993 for Warner-Lambert where he gained experience in employee engagement and a true culture of gratefulness, he notes. By 1998, he had the opportunity to work for Coca-Cola Co. in several countries. He said that these jobs helped him prepare to connect with consumers in the United States, especially the large Hispanic population in Texas.

His oversight as Coca-Cola’s internal representation of the merger forming Arca Continental in 2011 influenced his streamlined approach to transitions into Peru and the United States. It is important to note Arca Continental’s presence includes more than 118 million consumers in Mexico, South America, and the Southwestern U.S. (The company also produces and markets snacks under the brand names of Wise in the U.S and Bokados in Mexico.)

Even before Jean Claude’s tenure at CCSWB began, the Arca Continental brand name was well-established in Texas. Its Topo Chico brand, the company's sparkling mineral water sourced and bottled in Monterrey, Mexico since 1895, holds almost cult status in the state.

Fluent in French, Spanish, and English, Jean Claude embraced product and franchise management positions within the company in Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico. It was through these leadership positions that Jean Claude honed a devotion to cultivating a corporate culture of appreciation, which ensures employees understand the “why” behind business decisions, and that they can approach leadership and be heard.

Subsequently, Arca Continental invited Jean Claude to be its chief marketing officer. "In that role, I worked with our team to implement a commercial business model that we call the ‘ACT model’ to help us drive efficiency, accelerate technological advances and build collaboration,” he said.

After Arca Continental acquired the territory that was to become CCSWB in 2017, Jean Claude worked as an executive with the new entity before being appointed president. Jean Claude notes that as CCSWB’s president, the most important part of his role has been taking Arca Continental’s strategy that was successful in Mexico and applying it appropriately in Texas.

Over the years, Jean Claude has seen how important the cross integration from both regions is, as well as how the cultures of Texas and Mexico make each region unique. For a company to operate successfully in the United States, Jean Claude said, “it needs a culture of integration and diversity, as well as a culture of change and innovation. A culture that is about prosperity and its focus on resources."

MY MANTRA IS TO BE ADAPTABLE, APPROACHABLE, AUTHENTIC ADAPTABLE: TRANSFORMING COMPLEXITY INTO SIMPLICITY. APPROACHABLE: LISTENING, UNDERSTANDING, AND RESOLVING CONCERNS AT ALL LEVELS. AUTHENTIC: ENCOURAGING TEAMWORK AND EXPANDING CAPABILITIES OF THE TEAM.

When it comes to business, he believes this makes all the difference. Jean Claude notes that he feels blessed and thankful to operate in the United States, and the past five years have been extremely successful in delivering top-line and bottom-line results.

Jean Claude’s leadership comes from years of experience and overcoming challenges with confidence and creativity. His attitude was greatly influenced by his father who endured being a young teen in France during World War II. After the war, his father would grow up and share his perspective with Jean Claude, teaching him that “life will bring challenges, but you have to be a problem solver."

During his career in marketing and business management, Jean Claude's problem-solving acumen has provided not only an opportunity for personal career growth but also to develop the talent of his colleagues. “As a team, you are always going to face challenges and problems," Jean Claude said, “but what counts is how you solve them.”

Today, Jean Claude will tell you that his favorite day of the week is Wednesday. That is when the company conducts its Market Investment Days. "We are not in the office but visit production facilities, warehouses, and other aspects of the business, listening to customer and employee concerns, what they need and their ideas," said Tissot.

It is an important part of the culture he champions at CCSWB. For Jean Claude, "that day is honestly when I receive more fuel than whatever meetings we have with corporate, the consultants or any other encounter that we have. I feel the excitement about what our role here is as a company.” A Solution-Focused Approach Among the major challenges that CCSWB has been resolving during Jean Claude's tenure: digitalization and building a strong relationship with its associates and local communities. Internally, CCSWB aims to be a pioneer in digital transformation, he said and is investing in how to serve its customers better.

The beverage company has affirmed its commitment to the community through its $250 million investment with its new production facility in Houston, which Jean Claude said is the first new bottling plant in the U.S. in more than a decade. The company has also taken a proactive approach to sustainability and the environment and is the first bottler to use 50 percent recycled materials in all of its plastic bottles. "We are developing programs that ensure net-zero carbon emissions inside and outside of our operations and working toward 100 percent renewable energy," he added. But the company's community connection is not just a question of investment, Jean Claude said. "All of us have to play a role in the community where we operate."

This includes making sure that the company's managers participate in organizations that are going to provide the company the opportunity to connect with and serve the community. "We have been donating products when crises arise such as Hurricane Harvey (2017), COVID 19, and last year's devastating Texas winter storm," Jean Claude said.

As the company embarks on its fifth anniversary, Jean Claude notes his excitement to continue advancing its growth. In celebration of the team and the upcoming anniversary, Jean Claude has led a new internal initiative called the Recognition Roadtrip. The Recognition Roadtrip features a 5-foot tall Coca-Cola bottle, which has traveled to every CCSWB facility to celebrate each team in the company’s territory.

By the end of the trip, the Recognition Roadtrip Bottle will have traveled more than 11,000 miles to more than 30 cities. The entire Recognition Roadtrip is one of many initiatives Jean Claude has shepherded to ensure his team is recognized and represented, no matter where in the region they work.

His tenure as CCSWB president may have begun with significant challenges in the form of COVID-19, natural disasters, and more. However, with Jean Claude’s teamwork-centered mindset and the amazing team at CCSWB, they have overcome these challenges to deliver incredible results in both financial aspects and engagement.

Jean Claude lives in Dallas with his wife and two teenaged children. Within the industry, he is proud to serves on various beverage associations, the North America Hispanic Advisory Council, American Beverage Association, the Coca-Cola Bottlers Association, the Dr. Pepper Bottlers Association, the Coca-Cola North America Hispanic Advisory Council, and the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce. He said he likes to travel and learn, is an avid soccer fan and as a new Texan, he is learning a lot about American football.