Campari Group Nominates Simon Hunt As CEO

Campari Group has nominated Simon Hunt as the company’s new CEO. Hunt, former CEO of William Grant & Sons, will succeed Campari’s interim chief executives, Paolo Marchesini and Fabio Di Fede, who have led the company since Matteo Fantacchiotti’s resignation in September. The move will be effective January 15, 2025, following a meeting of Campari’s board of directors.

Hunt comes to the role with decades of industry experience, including his tenure at William Grant. In addition to leadership roles at William Grant, Hunt has worked at Diageo and Pernod Ricard in managerial roles. Most recently Hunt has served as CEO of Catalyst Spirits, owner of Howler Head whiskey, in which Campari is a minority investor.

Hunt’s nomination follows a rocky period for Campari chief executives, with Fantacchiotti resigning after only five months in the role. Fantacchiotti succeeded Campari’s long-serving previous CEO Bob Kunze-Concewitz. Despite the executive shakeups this year, Campari is performing well. According to Impact Databank, Campari Group ranks seventh among all spirits marketers globally, with volume up 10% to nearly 37 million cases last year.

In October, Campari announced that it would shift to a “House of Brands” marketing structure, a move that includes selling off non-core brands. The shift comes as Campari Group saw U.S. sales register a flat performance in the third quarter, but remain in positive territory for the first nine months of the year at +2.2%. Globally, Campari posted sales of €2.3 billion ($2.5b) in the nine months through September, up 2% on an organic basis, with adjusted EBIT dipping 4% to €499 million ($540m).—Shane English

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