We take a look at some of the new appointments in the beverage industry this month.
We take a look at some of the new appointments in the beverage industry this month.
American Beverage, the national trade organization representing companies that manufacture and distribute non-alcoholic beverages in the US, has made two appointments this month.
Robert “Robb” Micek becomes the association’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. He replaces Mark Hammond, who is retiring after 37 years at American Beverage.
Across his career, Micek has worked with both associations and corporations in areas of finance, accounting, tax strategy, operations, M&A, marketing, human resources, technology, and procurement.
He most recently served as senior vice president and chief financial officer for ISACA, an international professional association based in Schaumburg, Ill., focused on IT audit, risk, security, privacy, and governance. Before that he held top financial oversight positions at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System in Chicago.
Meanwhile, Merideth Potter joins the organization as senior vice president for public affairs.
Potter will oversee strategic communications and public affairs work for the non-alcoholic beverage industry, as well as play a leadership role on issues management. She will be a senior member of the Department of Government & Public Affairs, reporting to Kevin Keane, executive vice president for government and public affairs.
Potter joins AB from GMMB, a top national public relations agency that specializes in communications and media strategy. Based in Washington, D.C., it is one of the largest political and issues advocacy consulting firms in the USA.
While at GMMB, Potter worked alongside AB, The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo on the beverage industry’s strategic communications and issue campaigns to reduce its use of new plastic, bolster recycling nationally and help consumers reduce the sugar they get from beverages. She led the development of nationwide television and digital advertising and a robust social media campaign to help inform policymakers and others about the industry’s actions to lessen its environmental impact.
In other work at GMMB, Potter led media strategy campaigns for UnitedHealth Group, which is among the largest managed healthcare and insurance multinationals in the world. She also led campaigns on behalf of the American Academy of Dermatology to raise awareness among Gen Z of the importance of sun protection.
Jennifer Yu has joined Diageo North America as Vice President, Brands in Culture.
Her new role will focus primarily on integrating Diageo’s multi-cultural marketing efforts into a cohesive strategy and driving initiatives uniting entertainment endeavours with strategic partnerships.
Yu’s most recent role was as Senior Global Events Lead – High Touch Experiences at Apple, Inc., driving the ideation and development of global product experiences, being named to Biz Bash’s Top 500 people in events for three consecutive years.
Yu has been connecting brands and culture for over two decades. For music mogul Sean Combs, she served as the Global Brand Director for DeLeon Tequila, launching the product and developing a disruptive digital-first strategy. For Grammy award-winning rapper T.I., she spearheaded his clothing brand’s first-ever national advertising campaign. In the fashion world, she introduced strategic and transformative partnerships to Fila USA and New Era Cap; and for global luxury juggernaut LVMH, she reinvigorated the Hennessy name and repositioned the brand in the luxury spirits category. At Hennessy, she won the Best Multicultural Marketing Campaign Gold Sabre Award for their most successful partnership to date: the ""Never Stop Never Settle"" campaign with rapper Nas.
Scotch whisky Johnnie Walker has announced that Emma Walker will become the brand’s Master Blender, taking over the reins from Dr Jim Beveridge OBE, who retires at the end of the year after more than 40 years at Diageo, 20 of which as Master Blender.
Walker will be the first female to take on the coveted role of Master Blender in more than two centuries of the business's existence. Aptly named, although no relation to the Walker family, she joined Diageo 13 years ago and has gained extensive knowledge and experience of Scotch production and who has worked extensively on Johnnie Walker for the last six years. Her innovations include the Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost and Rare series and Jane Walker by Johnnie Walker.
Walker will lead the 12-strong team of expert whisky makers: crafting and blending whisky from the four corners of Scotland to create the numerous Johnnie Walker variants which are sold in more than 180 countries around the world.
During her career, she has worked in different areas of whisky production; gaining experience and understanding of how flavour develops in fermentation, distillation, and maturation, striving to ensure quality at every stage of the process. She has spent several years working with Beveridge to develop an encyclopaedic understanding and knowledge of whisky.
Beveridge started his career with Johnnie Walker as an analytical chemist 42 years ago. He has gone on to establish himself as one of the most highly respected figures in the industry, renowned for his skill and dedication to quality. In 2019, he was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty the Queen for his services to the Scotch Whisky industry.
Emma will officially hold the title of Master Blender from 1 January 2022 and Jim will remain with the business until the end of the year.
Molson Coors Beverage Company has announced the retirement of Simon Cox, president and CEO of Molson Coors European business unit. Sergey Yeskov, the company’s current managing director of Central and Eastern Europe, will transition into Cox’s role on January 1, 2022.
A native of Ukraine, Yeskov has held senior leadership positions for Molson Coors throughout the world. Prior to serving as managing director of CEE, he served as the president and CEO of Molson Coors International where he lived in the US and oversaw operations in India, Africa, Latin America, Japan and many more markets throughout the world. He also served as chief sales and commercial officer in Molson Coors Canada. Prior to that, he led Molson Coors’ businesses in Croatia and Bosnia.
Cox retires after more than three decades in the beer industry. A master brewer by training, he worked for Molson Coors for 16 years where he led both supply chain and on trade sales teams, as well as the strategy function in the UK before going on to successfully run the UK business. He was subsequently selected to run Molson Coors Europe. During that time, he built an impressive record of success, including the acquisitions of Cobra, Sharp’s Brewery and Aspall Cyder.
Wine Australia has appointed its new CEO Dr Martin Cole, who starts in the role this month.
Dr Cole joins Wine Australia from the University of Adelaide, where he is the Head of School, Agriculture, Food and Wine.
Wine Australia Chair Dr Michele Allan said, “Along with his wine sector experience, Dr Cole brings extensive experience across government, academia and industry – including the broader agricultural sectors – and has held senior leadership positions at CSIRO, overseas and in larger commercial companies.
“His collaborative, multidisciplinary approach and extensive experience in stakeholder engagement will be of great benefit to the sector, as we focus on growth opportunities for growers, producers and exporters post-COVID-19, Brexit and China’s deposit tariffs on bottled Australian wine imports.”
Dr Cole takes over from Andreas Clark, who spent 15 years with Wine Australia including eight as CEO. Steven Weinert has been serving as interim CEO since July.
The South African Liquor Brandowners Association (SALBA), whose members includes major alcohol manufacturers Distell, Heineken, Diageo, Pernod Ricard and DGB, has appointed Pamela Nkuna as its Chairperson, replacing Sibani Mngadi.
Pamela is also Head of Corporate Affairs at Pernod Ricard and has over ten years of experience in the alcohol industry, focusing on regulatory matters and stakeholder engagement at national government and provincial levels and with local, civil society and NGOs. During her career in the alcohol industry, much of her focus has been on matters related to Harm Reduction programmes, including binge drinking, drinking & driving/walking, and underage drinking
Pamela also sits on the board of Aware.org, a non-profit organisation that works in partnership with the alcohol industry to develop a culture of responsible alcohol usage in South Africa through programmes aimed at curbing the problems and ills caused by alcohol misuse and abuse.
