Coca-Cola and Southern Glazer's are among the companies welcoming new faces to top jobs.
Coca-Cola and Southern Glazer's are among the companies welcoming new faces to top jobs.
Coca-Cola Africa has welcomed Sergio Vieira as the new Vice President of Franchise Operations, South Africa.
Vieira joins the Coca-Cola Africa Operating Unit (AOU) in Johannesburg.
Vieira replaces Phillipine Mtikitiki, who has taken on the role of Vice President of Franchise Operations, overseeing Italy and Albania. In his role, Vieira’s mission is to hone the company's strategic direction, grow and develop the business, strengthen partnerships, and build new relationships across South Africa, Eswatini, and Lesotho.
Vieira has worked in the Coca-Cola system for over 20 years, joining Brazil's bottler's commercial function in 2002. In 2016, he took on the role of Marketing Director at Coca-Cola Hellenic, Nigeria. A key highlight was the awards for the best Growth Project for EMEA and the best Revenue Growth Management project globally.
Vieira has a bachelor’s degree in business from Universidade Federal de Pernambuco in Brazil, specialising in finance, marketing, and innovation.
The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) a non-profit science organization committed to advancing the science of food and its application across the global food system, has announced that Sean Leighton has officially assumed the role of Board President succeeding Christopher Downs, PhD.
Leighton is the global vice president of food safety, quality and regulatory at Cargill.
A member of IFT since 1999 where he was a participant in the IFT Student Association (IFTSA) product development competition, Leighton has served in several volunteer roles as a presenter, panelist, podcast thought leader, as well as an advisory council member of IFT’s Global Food Traceability Center.
With a career spanning more than 20 years in the food and beverage community, Leighton has intimate knowledge of the science and standards that make food safe and the strategies to ensure the quality of supply chains that feed the world. Before joining Cargill in 2017, Leighton served as vice president of quality assurance, people safety and environmental sustainability at The Coca-Cola Company where he spent 12 years in roles of increasing responsibility. Prior to that, he worked at Land O’Lakes Incorporated.
In addition to IFT, Leighton sits on numerous advisory boards, including The Center for Food Safety (University of Georgia), The Center for Food Integrity (CFI), Partnerships for Food Safety Education, and the Food Fraud Think Tank (Michigan State University). He holds a bachelor’s degree in bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a master’s degree in food science from the University of Minnesota, and an MBA from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Beverage alcohol distributor Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits has appointed Stephanie Silvestre to the position of Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the Company’s Atlantic Division, backfilling Greg Rabinovich, effective immediately.
The Atlantic Division is Southern Glazer’s dedicated selling division for Constellation Brands. In this role, Silvestre will lead the team and will manage the Constellation relationship nationally, working with Southern Glazer’s regional, state, national account teams and operations to continue to grow the portfolio of brands. She will report to Gene Sullivan, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer.
Silvestre most recently held the role of Senior Vice President, Supply Chain & Operations Strategy. In this position, reporting to Chief Supply Chain Officer, she led the Supply Chain & Operations transformational vision and strategy, including the deployment of a fully integrated and streamlined supply chain for customer and supplier partners.
Silvestre began her career with Southern Glazer’s in 2011 as Director of Logistics and has since held multiple roles of increasing responsibility within the Supply Chain function. Prior to joining Southern Glazer’s, she worked for General Electric. She is also an inaugural member of Southern Glazer’s Exceptional Leaders Program, the Company’s flagship leadership development program.
Rabinovich will remain to support Silvestre for a transition period until the end of the year, when he will take on his next strategic role within Southern Glazer’s.
Plumpton College, the UK’s centre of excellence in wine education, training, and research, has announced the appointment of Sam Linter as the new Wine Director of Plumpton’s Wine Division.
Prior to joining Plumpton College, Linter served as the Managing Director and Head Winemaker at Bolney Wine Estate. Under her leadership, Bolney Wine Estate pioneered a successful tourism model, leading the way as one of the first UK vineyards to do so. Her strategies resulted in an increase in turnover by over 600% within a decade. Furthermore, she oversaw the first-ever sale of an English wine brand to a major international sparkling wine group.
In addition to her new role at Plumpton College, Linter continues her current role as the Chair of Wine GB.
“Her dedication to raising awareness about English wine is a hallmark of her career,” says Plumpton College as it announces the appointment.
“Throughout the years, Linter has been an active participant in various groups and initiatives aimed at nurturing the industry's growth and amplifying its recognition. Notably, she led Bolney to be one of the founding members Sustainable Wines of Great Britain during her tenure. This commitment led to the business achieving full accreditation for its eco-friendly approach.”
Wherehouse Beverage Company, makers of WYNK and COUNTDOWN THC beverages, has appointed two key executives to join its senior leadership team.
- Sol Clahane, Chief Commercial Officer – Sol has more than two decades of experience in strategic planning, customer management, revenue growth management and sales operations. She has held numerous senior leadership positions within the cannabis and beverage industries. She is the founder of Boardroom Brew Beverage Consulting and former board member of Storz and Bickel. During her time at Canopy Growth, Sol oversaw all commercial operations and brands available in the U.S. market. Prior to Canopy Growth, Sol served as Vice President and General Manager of U.S. chains for Pernod-Ricard, where she led the strategic planning for channel and customer development as well as customer marketing, shopper insights and category management.
- Phil McFarland, General Manager, THC Beverages – Phil is a sales, marketing and hospitality executive with 25 years of experience building iconic regional and global brands. Phil most recently served as vice president of strategic business transition at Canopy Growth, supporting the development and growth of Canopy USA and its portfolio of brands. Phil has extensive experience in the beer industry, having served as general manager of Half Acre Beer Company. While there, he was responsible for strategic business planning, product innovation and business operations across marketing, sales, production, retail and hospitality.
The Aluminium Closures Group (ACG) has re-elected Franco Bove as chair at its recent summer conference held, this year, in Thessaloniki, Greece.
At the meeting members also elected Patrick Broom (Constellium) as the new Vice-Chair. A new member Ramondin, headquartered in Spain, was also accepted.
The ACG consists of the leading manufacturers of aluminium closures and their aluminium strips and sheets suppliers. They represent about 75% of global aluminium closure production which are mainly used in the wine, spirits, water and oil & vinegar markets.
Franco Bove, who is also COO of Guala Closures, said: “It is a privilege to continue to serve the industry which has done so much to revolutionise the wine and spirit sectors, particularly, in recent years. Not only are aluminium closures at the forefront of sustainability and waste reduction across all the markets we serve; but, thanks our technological abilities, we can serve our customers in far more flexible and environmentally impactful ways.
“Of course, sustainability is at the centre of design and development initiatives and as an industry we are always looking at new ways to reduce our environmental impact. But we are also able to protect, promote and preserve the products we help to contain in new and exciting ways. Our industry is expanding its footprint, even in markets where consumption has dipped due to inflation and cost increases recently. By working together through ACG to face these and other challenges we are better able to meet and overcome them.”
