News Briefs for August 16, 2012
August 16, 2012•Treasury Wine Estates has promoted from within to fill the managing director, Beringer, position vacated by Stephen Brauer last month. John Grant, formerly vice president, global brand director, Beringer, will now assume responsibility for the Beringer Brand Business Unit at Treasury, which in addition to Beringer includes oversight of the Chateau St. Jean, Etude, Stags’ Leap, Be. and Castello di Gabbiano brands. Grant has two decades’ experience in the wine industry and was previously president, Constellation Australia. He also held senior leadership roles at Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates and Lion Nathan. Grant will be based in Napa and report directly to Treasury Wine Estates CEO David Dearie.
•Constellation Brands has appointed Diana Pawlik as vice president of marketing for its Svedka vodka brand, a role in which she’s served on an interim basis since March. Pawlik has been with Constellation for 11 years, and previously led marketing for Constellation’s Vincor unit in Canada. She replaces Marina Hahn and will report to Constellation CMO Chris Fehrnstrom. Svedka—which saw a renewed TV push this spring, launching two new ads featuring its SVEDKA_Grl robotic icon—enjoyed volume growth of 10.5% in 2011 to 3.635 million nine-liter cases, according to Impact Databank.
•Port house Fonseca will debut a new limited edition “Artist Series,” beginning with a special holiday bottle for its Bin 27 Reserve Ruby Port. Retailing at around $19.99 a bottle, the Fonseca Bin 27 special edition was designed by Portuguese artist Sebastião Rodrigues and will be on shelves from October through December. Marketed by Kobrand, Fonseca is the second-ranked Port brand in the U.S. after Pernod Ricard’s Sandeman, selling around 50,000 cases annually.
•Cognac Ferrand’s Plantation rum franchise is launching its first white rum, Plantation 3 Stars, in the U.S. this September. Named for three of the Caribbean’s rum producing islands—Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica—Plantation 3 Stars is a blend of three-year-old, carbon-filtered rum from Trinidad, un-aged rums from both Barbados and Jamaica and a 12-year-old Jamaican rum. The 41.2%-abv offering will roll out nationwide, priced at around $24.99 a 1-liter bottle. Last year, Cognac Ferrand reported a U.S. sales volume of 70,000 cases across its Pierre Ferrand Cognac, Cerbois Armagnac, Mathilde liqueurs, Plantation rum, Daron Calvados and Citadelle gin brands.
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Tagged : Port, Svedka, Treasury Wine Estates
