Coca-Cola Amatil has thickened its senior management ranks as it counts down to its December re-entry into the Australian beer and cider market after a two-year absence, appointing the former local boss of spirits house Campari as its new director of licensed alcohol.
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A new management structure sitting underneath CC Amatil's Australian beverages managing director, John Murphy, has also been put in place that will span all of the Coca-Cola bottler's alcoholic offering in the local market including beer, cider and spirits.
It comes as CC Amatil is poised to unveil a fresh assault on the $11 billion Australian beer and cider market from December 17 after agreeing to stay away from the sector for two years. The self-exclusion deal was done as a condition of CC Amatil's sale of its half-stake in in the Pacific Beverages brewing joint venture to SABMiller when the world's second largest brewer bought Foster's Group.
CC Amatil boss Terry Davis has been counting down the days since he can launch himself back in a sector which has an estimated $1.4 billion profit pool and some of the highest margins in the brewing world.
To prepare for its re-entry in less than three months, CC Amatil has appointed Shane Richardson as its new director of licensed alcohol.
Mr Richardson was previously managing director of Campari Australia and New Zealand, the Italian spirits house which is the sixth biggest player in the global beverages industry with brands such as Wild Turkey, its namesake Campari, CinZano, SKYY Vodka and Frangelico.
During his tenure Mr Richardson which accelerated Campari into one of the top 10 liquor suppliers in the country, CC Amatil said.
But he also has brewing experience, which will be in high demand at CC Amatil, and prior to his role at the Campari spirits group had a range of roles within Fosters Group including general manager of New South Wales and general manager of Queensland.
Mr Richardson will report to Mr Murphy.
"I am delighted to have Shane on our team as he brings considerable strength in customer relationship management, strategic know-how and a strong track record of driving business performance and building brands and teams," Mr Murphy said.
CC Amatil recently announced it would distribute the Molson Coors beers, as well as Rekorderlig Cider on its return to the beer and cider market in December. CC Amatil also has a joint venture brewery with winemaker Casella Group which will also activate in the Australian market on December 17.
CC Amatil recently inked a deal to buy Fijian beer Vonu Pure Lager which it will bring to Australia and New Zealand early next year.
The company's shares closed 0.5% up at $12.18.
