Snapple Deal Sinks Quaker Executive

Quaker Oats Co. President Philip A. Marineau, who oversaw the ill-fated acquisition of Snapple Beverage Corp., resigned Monday just one week shy of the deal’s first anniversary.

Analysts said Marineau, the No. 2 executive at Chicago-based Quaker, was an apparent casualty of Snapple’s poor performance. Neither Quaker nor Marineau immediately returned calls.

Snapple sales, down 17 percent in the first half of this year, have fallen far short of expectations as consumers’ thirst for so-called New Age beverages has cooled.