John Culver was named president of Starbucks Coffee International, a major engine for growth at a company that has trimmed its U.S. operations and plans to grow much faster overseas than domestically.

He replaces Martin Coles, a longtime Starbucks executive who is leaving to "pursue new opportunities," according to a press release. Just last month, Coles was awarded stock units that could have been worth more than $1 million over the next couple years. He forfeits unvested stock units, including those, upon his departure. Culver, who headed Starbucks' consumer products and foodservice group, received stock units worth considerably less.

The consumer products and foodservice group, which markets things like bottled Frappuccino, has been one of Starbucks' most successful businesses. It's smaller than the U.S. or international store operations, but in fiscal 2009 was the only unit to post a revenue gain (of 0.3 percent).

Culver, 49, has been with Starbucks for seven years. Before running consumer products and foodservice, he was general manager of foodservice and president of Starbucks' Asia-Pacific region. Before joining Starbucks, he was vice president of sales for Nestle USA, where he was responsible for foodservice sales and developing more than 30 brands.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, 56, highlighted Culver's international experience.

"With our U.S. business moving in the right direction, now is the time to re-accelerate growth of our international business. John's experience and success leading our Asia Pacific region, his deep coffee industry knowledge and his strong leadership skills combine to make him the ideal leader for Starbucks Coffee International today," Schultz said in a release.

After closing more stores than it opened in fiscal 2009, Starbucks plans to open 100 stores in the U.S. and 200 internationally in the coming year. As of late September, it had 11,128 shops in the U.S. and 5,507 in other countries.

Coles, 54, had been in charge of Starbucks' international operations twice. In 2007, he left that role to become Starbucks' chief operating officer. A year later, he returned to the international job when Jim Alling -- who had led Starbucks' blockbuster U.S. growth -- left the company after less than a year of heading its international business. Alling is now chief operations officer at T-Mobile USA.

Michelle Gass, 41, president of Starbucks' Seattle's Best Coffee business, will act as interim president of consumer products and foodservice while the company searches for a permanent leader in that area.