2020 has been an eventful year: but 2021 will also require skilful navigation. New leaders will be dealing with continued uncertainties; but also identifying new opportunities and driving innovation. Here’s some of the people looking to the new year as they take up top jobs in the beverage industry.
Pic:getty/tadamichi
2020 has been an eventful year: but 2021 will also require skilful navigation. New leaders will be dealing with continued uncertainties; but also identifying new opportunities and driving innovation. Here’s some of the people looking to the new year as they take up top jobs in the beverage industry.
Beam Suntory has appointed Heather Boyd to lead its efforts in the rapidly growing RTD-spirits market in the US.
Boyd, who becomes Managing Director, US RTD as of January 4, will drive the company’s goal to become an industry leader in the sector. Beam Suntory already holds RTD-spirits category leadership positions in Japan, Australia and Germany: seeing the increased popularity of cocktailing at home, with consumers looking for products that bridge the gap between premiumization and convenience.
In September, Beam Suntory acquired On The Rocks Premium Cocktails, a rapidly growing premium RTD cocktail brand, and announced plans to expand market availability and the product range.
Boyd’s latest position was as Chief Product & Innovation Officer at Acreage Holdings, a US company with a portfolio of cannabis operations. Here, she led a cross-functional product team across category management, sales, business intelligence, product and packaging development and R&D, and established the company’s wholesale business. Prior to Acreage Holdings, Boyd served in marketing and commercial roles at Diageo.
David Flochel will become managing director of Heineken UK in January.
Flochel joins Heineken from Selecta Group, a European self-service retailer which provides coffee and convenience food solutions in the workplace, where he has been CEO for four years.
Flochel has previously held senior roles in FMCG in Europe and North America: including at Unilever and more recently as Regional President in Europe and North America of the Mars Drinks segment at Mars Inc.
Flochel will take over from Simon Amor who has been operating as Interim Managing Director for Heineken UK since the departure of David Forde in July 2020 (Amor will revert to his position as Off Trade Director at Heineken UK). Flochel will report to Søren Hagh, President Europe, Heineken, and join the Europe Management Team.
Amber Beverage Group, a Luxembourg-headquartered global producer and distributor of alcoholic beverages, has appointed Angela Bosco as Brand Director US as it expands its business in the country.
Having taken on the new job this month, she is working closely with the ABG Strategic Marketing Department and several of ABG distribution companies and partners across the globe to grow the company’s core brands.
Bosco will manage all aspects of core brands’ national marketing activities, ensuring consistent brand voice for such premium brands as Moskovskaya Vodka, KAH tequila, Riga Black Balsam, Rooster Rojo tequila, Cross Keys Gin and Cosmopolitan Diva.
Bosco is a marketing professional with more than 10 years of experience in brand management, agency leadership and trade marketing. She previously worked as Senior Brand Lead of Jefferson’s Bourbon at Pernod Ricard USA: managing the brand under the original Castle Brands ownership since 2015 and leading the transition of the brand after its acquisition by Pernod Ricard USA in 2019. She also managed a portfolio of liqueurs under Castle Brands and was responsible for marketing, sales, finance, and operations.
She established, and still is, the New York Chapter President of the Bourbon Women, an organization whose mission is to educate, mentor and celebrate the spirited nature of women who enjoy bourbon.
Britvic has appointed Sudeep Shetty as Group Chief Information Officer as it embarks on strategic investment in technology to transform the business and its supply chain.
Shetty has been Britvic’s Chief Technology Officer for two years, and has previously worked for Marks & Spencer, Selfridges and Jack Wills.
In his new role, Shetty will oversee a series of transformational programmes, including end-to-end supply chain digitisation, from raw materials to factories to customers’ shelves. He will also work on projects to automate and strengthen Britvic’s commercial planning, procurement process and customer engagement, as the company transforms its global capabilities and digital infrastructure. These projects are expected to have benefits for multiple stakeholders, as well as the company: giving Britvic instant access to real-time data and thus enabling it to better partner with customers and anticipate consumers’ needs.
“This year has seen consumers increasingly shopping online and everyone demanding more from digital,” said Shetty. “While the pandemic may well have accelerated these trends, they are only set to continue, making this the perfect time to innovate and invest ahead of the curve. Therefore, this is an especially exciting time to take on this new role.
“Globally, many of our drinks are number one or number two brands in their categories, and we are trusted experts in the markets we operate in. Using technology to pool information from around the globe and increase automation will give us the insights and time we need to continue to innovate.”
Sudeep succeeds Steve Potts, who has moved on from his role of Chief Information, Transformation and Digital Officer to become Managing Director of Britvic’s Beyond the Bottle Innovation division.
Pietro Antonio Tataranni, MD, has been named PepsiCo’s global Chief Medical Officer.
Dr. Tataranni will continue to oversee all aspects of the company's efforts to protect its global workforce, products and communities in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. He will also continue to lead PepsiCo's Life Sciences strategy and the R&D Fellows Program as its Executive Sponsor, reporting to René Lammers, EVP & Chief Science Officer.
Having joined PepsiCo in September 2018, Dr. Tataranni has served as Deputy Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President of Life Sciences where he drives the company's Nutrition Sciences, Sports Science and External Innovation strategies, looking at science around physiology, diet and health to guide innovation and portfolio transformation.
He also leads PepsiCo's scientific research agenda to build recommendations and a future roadmap to enable innovations in line with PepsiCo's "Winning with Purpose" agenda.
Prior to joining PepsiCo, Dr. Tataranni worked for pharmaceutical giant Sanofi as a Senior Vice President and Head of Medical Affairs for the Diabetes and Cardiovascular Business Unit. Before Sanofi, he worked as a clinician, scientist, and physician at organizations including Merck and the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Asahi Beverages has appointed Nigel Parsons as the new CEO of Asahi Lifestyle Beverages: the company’s non-alcoholic Australian business.
The company markets and distributes a range of drinks including Schweppes, Solo, Cottee’s, Cool Ridge water, Spring Valley and Charlie’s juices; with Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Sunkist, Gatorade and Lipton Iced Tea manufactured and distributed under licence.
Parsons is currently President, Sub Saharan Africa at Mondelez International; having previously held the role of MD and Commercial Director Australia with the company.
ALB’s present CEO, Stuart Roberts, will leave the business at the end of February, having ended his 3 year term.
Parsons will take on the role on March 1.
Drinks Ireland | The Irish Whiskey Association has made John Quinn its new chairman.
Quinn is Global Brand Ambassador with Tullamore D.E.W., part of the William Grant & Sons portfolio of premium brands. He has more than 40 years’ experience in the Irish whiskey industry and is ‘widely regarded as one of the leading brand and category communicators in the industry’ - inducted into the Whiskey magazine World Hall of Fame in 2019.
Quinn says his key aims in 2021 will be to protect the integrity of the category; promote it globally; and support members in pandemic recovery.
Quinn succeeds David Stapleton as chairman.
Meanwhile, James Doherty has become Vice-Chairman of the Association. James is Managing-Director of Sliabh Liag Distillers in Co. Donegal.
The American Beverage Association has elected Matthew Dent, president and chief operating officer of Buffalo Rock Company, as chair of its Board of Directors.
Dent, who previously served as Vice Chair, succeeds Kirk Tyler, chair and chief executive officer of Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company.
The board has also elected Derek Hopkins, president, cold beverages for Keurig Dr Pepper, as vice chair.
Members of ABA’s Board of Directors serve a four-year term and participate in semi-annual meetings that help shape association programs, policies and initiatives. Officers are elected annually. There are 29 elected members on ABA’s Board.
Those elected in November to serve for an additional term are: Paul Finney, president and chief executive officer, Pepsi Bottling Ventures, LLC; Jeffrey “Jeff” Honickman, chief executive officer, Pepsi-Cola & National Brand Beverages, Ltd.; Derek Lewis, south division president, PepsiCo Beverages North America; Claude B. Nielsen, chairman of the board, Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED, Inc; Troy D. Taylor, chairman and chief executive officer, Coca-Cola Beverages Florida, LLC; and, Zoran Vučinić, chief operating officer, US Bottler Delivered Brands, The Coca-Cola Company.