Bacardi International has announced changes to its regional structure which means that Denis Brown, the Regional President of North Asia Pacific, is leaving the organisation.
Brown has overseen five years of growth and the creation of Bacardi-Martini Australia after separating from the Bacardi-Lion joint venture in 2016. This has included growth in Grey Goose and Bombay Sapphire and a turnaround in Bacardi, which for the last five years has consistently grown volume.
The Australian business led the development and launch of the Bombay Sapphire RTD and the repack of 42Below Vodka, under Brown’s stewardship.
Mahesh Madavan, Global CEO expressed his personal gratitude to Brown for his passion, enthusiasm and leadership and acknowledged that he will be missed by the team.
“Denis led very diverse markets – some mature, some emerging and with very different needs,” Madavan said. “Bacardi decided to move these markets into regions that shared similar challenges, opportunities and brand health.
“Moving forward, the mature markets of Australia and New Zealand will report to our Regional President of Europe Francis Debeuckelaere, a 25-year veteran of Bacardi who has a tremendous track record growing our business. This gives us greater access to similar markets so that we can learn from each, share best practices and apply commercial learnings.
“The North Asia markets previously led by Denis now fall under the leadership of Eastern Europe as they share similar emerging market opportunities.”
Mauricio Vergara, Managing Director Bacardi-Martini Australia will continue in his current role, reporting to the European Regional President.