THE ABSOLUT COMPANY
ANNA MALMHAKE has been named the new Vice President, Global Marketing. Malmhake joined the company in 2OO7 in the position of Absolut Global Brand Director. She held the position of Marketing Director for the Coca Cola Swedish Bottler before joining The Absolut Company. Malmhake will replace MATT AEPPLI.
Remy Cointreau
Patrick Piana has hired been as Chief Executive Officer. Piana has over 15 years of international experience – begining his career with Philip Morris, before being appointed Senior Vice President of Moët Hennessy USA. Since 2OO7, he has acted as Senior Vice President of Pernod Ricard USA, in charge of... Read More
Heineken NV
Don J. Blaustein, Chief Executive Officer of the US unit of Heineken NV has stepped down. Blaustein’s departure comes nearly two years after he succeeded ANDY THOMAS as CEO of Heineken USA.
Foster’s Wine Estates
Mike Holden has been appointed Senior Vice President of Sales. He will lead a team that is responsible for all US sales activities of Foster’s fine wine portfolio. Holden brings 24 years of senior sales, marketing, business strategy and executive leadership to Foster’s. Before joining Foster’s, he was President and... Read More
BROWN-FORMAN
JOHN KRISTIN “KRIS” SIRCHIO has been appointed the new Chief Marketing Officer, effective November 16. The New Jersey native joins Brown-Forman after working the last five years at Syngenta AG, a leading agribusinesses based in Basel, Switzerland, where his title was Global Head, Professional Products. Sirchio succeeds MARK McCALLUM who... Read More
William Grant & Sons
Jonathan Ashworth has been hired as Commercial Director for Stolichnaya Vodka. The company took over distribution for the brand from Pernod Ricard in several markets, including the US, last year and Ashworth is a former member of Pernod Ricard’s Stolichnaya Brand Organization team. Ashworth previously worked at Allied Domecq Duty... Read More
Bacardi Limited
Michael J. Dolan and John S. Galantic have been elected as Directors to the Board. They will take the places of JAY MCDOWELL and GUY PEYRELONGUE, who are retiring. Dolan, who retired as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Viacom, Inc. in December 2OO6, currently serves on the... Read More
W.J. Deutsch & Sons
Jean-Francois Bonneté has been appointed Senior Vice President of Spirits, heading up Deutsch’s new spirits division. The former President-CEO of Mystique Brands LLC and the prior Director of North America for Cognac Ferrand, Bonneté brings more than twelve years of experience in the US spirits industry.
OBITUARY – JIMMY BEDFORD
JIMMY BEDFORD, former master distiller of Jack Daniel’s whiskey, died Friday, August 7. He was 69. His body was found outside a barn at his farm in Lynchburg. The apparent cause was a heart attack. Bedford started at the distillery in 1968 and worked in the yeasting, fermenting, milling and... Read More
BACARDI LIMITED has named JACQUES CROISETIÈRE
as the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President. He succeeds RALPH MORERA who is retiring after almost twenty years with the company. Croisetière will join the company on August 3 and be based in the Bacardi Limited global headquarters in Hamilton Bermuda subject to approval by the Bermuda Department... Read More