By James Atkinson
Treasury Wine Estates has announced the appointment of Bob Spooner, who worked with CEO Mike Clarke at UK business Premier Foods, as the company’s new chief supply officer.
Spooner will take up his position on February 2, replacing Stuart McNab who, after nearly 20 years with SouthCorp Wines, Fosters and TWE, is leaving the company to explore other opportunities.
Spooner started his supply chain career with Sara Lee's household and personal care business in the UK before moving to ICI paints as its European supply chain director, where he also held the position of managing director of the UK and Ireland Paints business.
Over the past eight years, he has worked as group supply chain director for Premier Foods, and was most recently the CEO of Hovis Ltd, a $1 billion privately owned joint venture bread business.
Spooner will relocate with his wife to Australia and will be based at the company’s Melbourne office; however he will spend a significant amount of his time at TWE’s many wineries and production facilities across Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Italy.
TWE chief executive, Mike Clarke, commented: “I am delighted to appoint an individual of Bob’s calibre and capabilities. Having worked with him before at Premier Foods I know first-hand of his extensive experience in building highly efficient supply chain operations and I look forward to him bringing those talents to Treasury Wine Estates.”
“Bob is an extremely seasoned and experienced chief supply officer who has all the necessary skills to help us reset our business and help TWE deliver long-term sustainable growth.”
“I would also like to thank Stuart McNab for his many contributions to the business over the last 20 years, and for his personal support to me over the past 10 months. His deep wine knowledge, significant technical expertise and industry experience, along with his enormous commitment to our business will be missed and I wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.”