EP 45 - Keurig Dr Pepper's Juliana Saretta on Post-merger Integration through Listening, Not Leverage

Procurement's biggest misconception isn't about the work itself; it's about believing your role stops at cost savings. Juliana Saretta, Former VP of US Sourcing at Keurig Dr Pepper, spent 30 years proving that procurement touches every part of the enterprise: growth strategy, cash flow management, brand integrity, and now climate solutions. She shares how when Mott's Applesauce needs to maintain brand integrity around goodness for families, procurement not only sources apples, it also manages relationships with 150 multi-generational farming families in upstate New York who supply 95% of the volume.

Juliana also touches on her post-merger integration playbook, which starts with something most leaders skip: generous, attentive listening across both legacy organizations to unearth where the real problems and opportunities sit. She warns against the seductive trap of focusing solely on the allure of cost synergies from combined spend, emphasizing that teams perform best when they're engaged around a purpose beyond just delivering savings. For AI and procurement's future, she argues the critical skill isn't technical fluency but learning aptitude and curiosity, since the technology itself will look completely different in a few months.

Topics discussed:

• Expanding procurement's strategic impact beyond cost savings to influence growth, bottom line, cash flow, and climate solutions

• Managing category management across multi-brand portfolios by tailoring strategies to specific brand requirements and positioning

• Sourcing Mott's Applesauce from 150 multi-generational farming families in upstate New York representing 95% of total apple volume

• Leading post-merger integration through attentive listening across legacy organizations rather than focusing solely on cost synergy

• Proactively diversifying appliance manufacturing to prepare for tariff policy expansion

• Structuring global versus regional procurement models

• Building future-ready procurement teams by prioritizing learning aptitude and curiosity over specific AI technical fluency or tool mastery

• Recognizing career limitations when resources don't match ambitions and identifying non-negotiable conditions for professional success