Seth Kaufman Officially Named CEO At Vintage Wine Estates, Transitioning From Moët Hennessy

In case you missed yesterday’s news alert, Vintage Wine Estates has named current Moët Hennessy North America chief executive Seth Kaufman as its new president and CEO. The move confirms SND’s report of July 12, in which we revealed that Kaufman is departing Moët Hennessy North America and a strong possibility is that he would land at Vintage.

Kaufman will replace interim CEO Jon Moramarco at Vintage, which has recently been restructuring after seeing its share price fall from a high of $12.63 shortly after its $600 million IPO in June 2021 down to $0.85. He’ll begin no later than October 30.

Kaufman has been president and CEO of Moët Hennessy North America, the $2.5 billion North American wine and spirits business of LVMH, for the past four years and is credited with driving high single-digit growth. He’ll now turn his attention to realigning the business at Vintage Wine Estates, as the California winemaker looks to reverse its fortunes. Here’s the full story.

In addition to the announcement on Kaufman, Vintage offered an update on the restructuring effort. The company noted that in the last six months it has eliminated over 50% of SKUs, to 2,000, while expanding bottling output by over 40%. It also raised prices on several brands and reduced its headcount by 4%, with former president Terry Wheatley tendering her resignation effective July 19.

Vintage added that it’s expecting sales of $290 million for its fiscal year ended in June, and issued guidance for its fiscal 2024, in which sales are expected to slip to between $250 to $270 million as it continues its business realignment.

Tagged : Vintage Wine Estates

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