Just two weeks after Dean Foods said that Alan Bernon was stepping down as president of the Dean Dairy Group to serve on the company’s board of directors, the company announced that Rick Zuroweste would join the Dairy Group in the newly created position of chief marketing officer.

Zuroweste has more than 23 years of experience in the food and beverage industry. For the past nine years, he worked with The Coca-Cola Company in progressive marketing roles, and held the position of group director for the Coca-Cola brands. While at Coca-Cola, he also led marketing and innovation for the Dasani water brand and Minute Maid’s Shelf Stable Juices and Orange Juice.

Bernon, 53, joined Suiza in 1997, when it acquired Garelick Farms, Franklin, Mass., where he was the third generation to work in the family business. He took over the leadership of Dean’s largest division in January 2006 after Pete Schenkel retired.