Posted on 04/05/2008 10:55:45 AM PDT by Liz
SOURCE http://www.beamglobal.com/cs/news/news_detail?pressrelease.id=231
FUTURE BRANDS BOARD ANNOUNCES EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT CHANGES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 11, 2008
CONTACT:
Sarah Devaney Beam Global Spirits & Wine 847-444-7661 Sarah.Devaney@beamglobal.com
Jeffrey Moran The Absolut Spirits Co., Inc. 212-641-8720 Jeffrey.moran@absolut.com
Kelley McCormick Qorvis Communications 202-683-3125 kmccormick@qorvis.com
FUTURE BRANDS BOARD ANNOUNCES EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT CHANGES
Future Brands Chairman of the Board Kevin Fennessey and Beam Global’s Bill Newlands Assume Greater Role in Management of the Company as Steve Bellini Plans to Step Down; Board Appoints CFO
Deerfield, Ill., – January 11, 2008 – Future Brands LLC, the U.S. sales and distribution services company for Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. and the Absolut Spirits Company, Inc. (ASCI), announces upcoming changes to the Future Brands management team.
Future Brands president and CEO Steve Bellini will be leaving the company to pursue personal interests. Steve has agreed with the Future Brands Board to accept a transition role working with Kevin Fennessey until February 29th. The Board also announces the appointment of Robert Hill to the position of chief financial officer, replacing Barry O’Neil who left for a new opportunity.
Kevin Fennessey, chairman of the Future Brands Board, will take on a greater role in the management of the company working jointly with Bill Newlands, senior vice president of U.S. Commercial Development for Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc. to oversee day-to-day operations. Fennessey will be fully supported by the Future Brands leadership team including CFO Robert Hill and by members of the Future Brands board. The company will be taking steps during this period to prepare for a CEO search.
“We want to thank Steve for his contributions to Future Brands over the past three years and we wish him all the best,” stated Kevin Fennessey, Chairman of the Future Brands Board. “We also want to welcome our new chief financial officer, Robert Hill. With several world-class brands in our stable such as Absolut® Vodka, Jim Beam® bourbon, Cruzan® Rum and Sauza® tequila, Future Brands is proud to drive the second highest spirits volume in the United States,” continued Fennessey. “These management changes invite new, exciting opportunities for the company’s future and mark another step in the evolution and elevation of Future Brands.”
Kevin Fennessey has 20-plus years experience in the spirits industry, having previously held executive positions at Pernod Ricard and Joseph E. Seagram & Sons.
He has been president and CEO of ASCI since August 1, 2006. Fennessey was appointed Chairman of the Future Brands board in October 2007.
Bill Newlands, former president of Beam Wine Estates was also president and CEO of Allied Domecq Wines, North America. He has also served as president and CEO of Wine.com; president and CEO of the North American Still and Sparkling Wine Group of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy's; and vice president of marketing at Ernest & Julio Gallo.
Robert Hill is a seasoned finance executive with significant senior leadership experience in both retail and food product environments. He is a hands-on and detail-oriented leader with experience at growth companies from several hundred million to over one billion dollars in annual sales.
Steve Bellini is a beverage alcohol industry veteran who began his career in 1972 as a sales representative for the General Wine and Spirits ... Company, a unit of the Joseph E. Seagram Corporation. At Joseph E. Seagram Corporation, he served as vice president of national development; led their control state business - and ultimately rose to the role of president, North America. Steve was appointed president and CEO of Future Brands in 2004.
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About Future Brands LLC: Future Brands LLC is a sales and distribution services joint-venture established in 2001 that represents all U.S. spirits sales in the Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. and The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc. portfolios, making it the number two spirits supplier in the U.S.
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About The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc.: The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc., headquartered in New York, is a subsidiary of V&S Group and operates under the auspices of V&S Absolut Spirits in Stockholm, which produces and markets ABSOLUT® VODKA, ABSOLUT CUT™, Level ™ Vodka, FRIS® Vodka, Plymouth™ Gin and Cruzan® Rum.
The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc. imports ABSOLUT VODKA, Level Vodka, Plymouth Gin and Cruzan Rum in the US and distributes the brands through Future Brands LLC, a joint venture with Beam Global Spirits & Wine.
About Beam Global Spirits & Wine: Inspiring conversations around the world, Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc., is building brands people want to talk about.
Consumers from all corners of the globe call for our brands, including Jim Beam® Bourbon, Sauza® Tequila, Canadian Club® Whisky, Courvoisier® Cognac,
Maker's Mark® Bourbon, Laphroaig® Scotch Whisky, Larios® Gin, Whisky DYC®, Teacher's® Scotch Whisky, DeKuyper® Cordials and Liqueurs, Knob
Creek® Bourbon and Starbucks™ Liqueurs. Beam Global Spirits & Wine is part of Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE:FO), a leading consumer brands company with annual sales exceeding $8 billion. For more information on Beam Global Spirits & Wine, its brands, and its commitment to social responsibility, please visit www.beamglobal.com and www.drinksmart.com.
I think letting Mexico have California is not that bad of an idea.
fait accomplis
You do realize how large their economy is don’t you?
“I think letting Mexico have California is not that bad of an idea.”
I don’t know where you live, but be careful...they want what you have too, and it isn’t JUST California! You all should have listened years ago when Californians warned the rest of us! Any other suggestions?
Or even...
Absolut vodka ad stirs a U.S.-Mexico debate: Some in the north take offense
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997167/posts
Ad expanding Mexico ‘hearkens to ideal time’(Absolut Vodka)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997140/posts
Absolut responded to my email and said “THE MAP” is down!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997027/posts
In an ABSOLUT World according to Mexico (Absolut responds to ad outrage)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996876/posts
Mexico reconquers California? Absolut drinks to that!(alarma de Vómito Principal)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996832/posts
Reconquista? ABSOLUT-ly! (ABQ Journal comment on Michelle Malkin and illegal immigration)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996733/posts
Boycott Absolut Vodka!!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1996711/posts
ABSOLUT Outrage!! (Vanity)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996297/posts
Time-Warner: Vodka Ad Campaign Reconquers California for Mexico (boycott Absolut Vodka!)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1996135/posts
Caption Absolut Vodka’s new anti-American reconquista ad
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996093/posts
Absolut-ly Insulting (Absolut Vodka hearts Aztlan)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1995788/posts
Amazing how some people can think that a vodka ad is more of a threat than al-queda.
Keep going... I think all the way to the Panama Canal would be a plus. ;-)
I don’t drink, so boycotting THIS product isn’t a problem. But the idea of Mexico “taking” ANYTHING away from the US makes me laugh too much to actually give it any intellectual thought. Metasticizing like a cancer within is another thing entirely.
I have an idea- let’s encourage these idiots to keep imbibing the product. Drinkin’ and wishin’- a recipe for NOTHING.
Why not, the US and UN took Kosovo from the Serbs, seems they set the precedent!!!
Who said Mexico will have to take the Southwest away from us? We are giving it to them. Juan Hernandez for VP.
Oh look! Dane has a new rhetoric!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997027/posts?page=84#84
It's not as "reactionary" as the tire old "you support Hillary Clinton" attacks but it's just as boring.
Methinks Liz has been sipping too many clear spirits from a tin-foiled container.
Excuse me?! I'm a Californian. There are millions of Republicans and conservatives who live here. In fact, if you check out California election results, you'll see that a large majority of the state's counties vote Republican. The problem is that we are overwhelmed by Los Angeles and San Francisco, in which (like most big cities in the U.S.) the majority vote Dim. Do you want to give away Pennsylvania because of Philadephia? Or Washington State because of Seattle? Or Virginia because of the DC influence in the northern part of the state? I mean, just how ridiculous do you want to be?
Furthermore, if California was an independent country, it's economy would be the world's 6th largest. California grows a significant percentage of the nation's food, with gross agriculture cash receipts of over $31 billion annually. California leads the nation in the production of fruits and vegetables, including carrots, lettuce, onions, broccoli, tomatoes, strawberries, and almonds. In fact, California produces approximately 20% of the nation's total agricultural commodities, including 20% of the nation's dairy products, 21% of our greenhouse and nursery products, 91% of our grapes, and 72% of our lettuce, to name a few examples.
We have three of the nation's most important ports, and two of the nation's most important airports (LAX and SFO). We have many important military installations, including San Diego, home to, among other capital ships, the USS Ronald Reagan. Here's a link to the DoD's 2003 list of California military installations. Aside from San Diego, which one of our famous bases do you want to give to Mexico? Vandenberg AFB? Edwards AFB? Camp Pendelton?
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