The American Beverage Association, Britvic and Constellation Brands are among those announcing changes to top roles.
The American Beverage Association, Britvic and Constellation Brands are among those announcing changes to top roles.
The American Beverage Association (ABA) has announced that President and CEO Katherine Lugar will be departing at the end of March to return to the hotel industry as Executive Vice President, Global Corporate Affairs at Hilton.
The ABA Board of Directors will announce an interim structure in coming days as it undertakes the process to appoint its next president and CEO.
Lugar has served as President and CEO at the ABA since January 2019. During her tenure, she led one of the largest trade associations, representing the non-alcoholic beverage industry’s interests in the nation’s capital and across the country.
“Among her numerous accomplishments, Lugar oversaw the development of the industry’s first joint sustainability leadership effort, Every Bottle Back, and its front-footed advocacy for modern collection systems, including rallying support for Colorado’s extended producer legislation passed in 2022,” says the ABA.
“Lugar also successfully led the effort to secure federal infrastructure funding to modernize and improve recycling systems across the country. With Lugar at the Association helm, the industry oversaw transformative innovation that has resulted in nearly 60 percent of beverages sold today containing zero sugar. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, the association successfully advocated for industry frontline workers to be considered essential workers.”
Prior to joining ABA, Lugar served as President and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA).
Woodford Reserve has named Elizabeth McCall as Master Distiller, the third in the bourbon brand’s 26-year history, succeeding Chris Morris, who will assume the role of Master Distiller Emeritus.
McCall, who has been training for the Master Distiller role for over a decade, will oversee quality and innovation efforts and bring new Woodford Reserve products to market. She will lead the brand’s special, rare bourbon releases, including the Master’s Collection and Distillery Series, bringing her unique touch and point of view to new whiskies.
Morris began mentoring McCall to take the Master Distiller role in 2015, when she became Master Taster. McCall became Woodford Reserve Assistant Master Distiller five years ago this month, in February 2018.
McCall joined Brown-Forman, Woodford Reserve’s parent company, in 2009 as a member of the Research & Development department. She began her career setting up tasting panels to ensure quality and consistency with the company’s products.
She is the second generation of her family to work in the spirits industry - following her mother’s footsteps - after earning her master’s degree from the University of Louisville.
UK soft drinks company Britvic has appointed Munnawar Chishty as its new Marketing Director in Great Britain.
The appointment follows Bruce Dallas moving to a new role as Commercial Growth Director.
Chishty will join Britvic later this year from Walgreen Boots Alliance, where she is Vice President & Global Category Director, Beauty and leads their global portfolio of beauty brands No7, Soap & Glory and Liz Earle. She also leads the incubator team responsible for digital consumer experience transformation, the multi-million-dollar revenue gifting team and local marketing teams across the globe.
In her career, Munnawar has worked across FMCG (Gillette, Scottish & Newcastle, J&J & GSK) and retail (Walgreen Boots Alliance) and where she held several senior global strategic and local leadership roles.
Munnawar brings with her considerable expertise in commercial, innovation, digital marketing and developing iconic campaigns – including the John Smith’s adverts featuring Peter Kay and working with the Spice Girls and Gary Lineker on campaigns for Walkers.
Munnawar is also a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, having been business sponsor of the Racial Equity and Cultural Heritage Business Resource Group at Walgreen Boots Alliance and worked with numerous organisations in the diversity, equity and inclusion sector.
Munnawar Chishty is a Non-Executive Director on the board of Bucks & Berks FA.
UK drinks business, Global Brands, has appointed Keith Beattie as Director of Sales, International.
Beattie re-joined Global Brands in 2019, continuing an career of more than 20 years including senior UK and international roles with BrewDog, Douglas Laing, and Quintessential Brands.
In the sales director role, Keith will continue to lead the international sales business unit of Global Brands, including managing the company’s USA subsidiary which launched in 2020. This includes growing global distribution and import partners for key brands in the portfolio – including Franklin & Sons, VK, Hooch, LUSTRE, Shake Baby Shake, Corky’s, and Amigos Tequila Beer.
The appointment follows consistent growth internationally and in the US market over the past two years, with the launch of premium tonics, soft drinks, and sodas brand Franklin & Sons in the US in 2020.
The Oxford Artisan Distillery, an English whisky producer focused on sustainable farming and production, has appointed Mark Harvey as Managing Director, Sales & Marketing.
Harvey brings a wealth of experience from across a number of leading premium drinks brands, most recently English winemaker Chapel Down.
Prior to this, he spent a decade at LVMH, while his career also includes marketing and commercial roles at L’Oreal and Cartier.
The Oxford Artisan Distillery recently announced investment from Diageo accelerator Distill Ventures, which will support the next stage of the company’s growth by enabling the upgrade and expansion of its Oxford site, tripling production capacity and reducing water usage by 90%. Grain handling will also take place on site to reduce vehicle movements. And developing further off site production capacity, with a partner equally committed to sustainable practices, will allow the company to scale to be one of England’s largest whisky producers.
Further investment will be made in an enhanced visitor experience at the Distillery, welcoming up to 15,000 people per year and opening the site to the general public walking through Oxford’s South Park; as well as in the continued development of The Oxford Artisan Distillery brand.
James A. Locke III (Jim) will retire from Constellation Brand’s Board of Directors at the end of his current term and consequently will not stand for re-election as a Board Director at Constellation’s upcoming Annual Shareholders Meeting in July 2023.
This decision culminates nearly 50 years of direct support of the company and its management team, including 40 years of dedicated service as a Constellation Brands Board Director. Locke, 80, provided independent counsel when Constellation first became a public company in 1973. He joined the company’s Board in 1983. Over the years, he has provided extensive knowledge in the areas of business and corporate law, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, and securities law compliance to Constellation’s Board and management team.
Locke played an influential role as a member of the Board in a number of transformational moments in the company’s history including the company’s diversification across the beer, wine and spirits categories; the acquisition of Robert Mondavi Winery, which established Constellation as a leader in Napa Valley fine wine; and the acquisition of the company’s imported beer brands in the U.S., including Modelo, Corona, Pacifico and Victoria. He currently serves as Senior Counsel to the law firm of Nixon Peabody LLP.
Locke will also complete and retire from his current roles as Lead Independent Director of the Board and Chair of the Corporate Governance and Responsibility Committee at that time. Following the company’s upcoming Annual Shareholders Meeting, Constellation’s newly elected Board of Directors will identify successors for the Lead Independent Director of the Board and Chair of the Corporate Governance and Responsibility Committee roles as part of its first meeting.