Latest drinks industry interviews

"Havana Club is a kind of rebel brand. It is important to protect that" - just-drinks meets Havana Club International CEO Christian Barré 12 Jul 2018

Andy Morton

It has been 25 years since Pernod Ricard created a joint-venture with the Cuban Government to bring the Havana Club rum brand to international markets. Last month, just-drinks visited Havana to speak to the two men who currently spearhead the JV,  Havana Club International CEO Christian Barré and Juan Gonzalez, the head of Pernod's partner, Cuba's Cuba Ron Corp. In the first of a two-part series, news & insights editor Andy Morton sat down with Barré, a former Spain and Mexico CEO for Pernod, to discuss the African rum market, the potential opportunity in the US  and why negotiating with the Cuban Government is like dealing with European supermarkets.

"Havana Club belongs to Cuba" - just-drinks meets Cuba Ron Corp president Juan Gonzalez 12 Jul 2018

Andy Morton

It has been 25 years since Pernod Ricard created a joint-venture with the Cuban Government to bring the Havana Club rum brand to international markets. Last month, just-drinks visited Havana to speak to the two men who currently spearhead the JV, Havana Club International CEO Christian Barré and Juan Gonzalez, the president of Pernod's partner, Cuba's Cuba Ron Corp. In the second of a two-part series, news & insights editor Andy Morton went to Cuba Ron's Havana HQ to speak to Gonzalez, who has led the state-run entity for the last eight years. During their time together, Gonzalez talked about the Government's relationship with Pernod, its hopes of an end to the US trade embargo and why he believes that Cuban rum does not belong to Bacardi.

"We look for the person best-suited to an opportunity, not the person who's been here the longest" - just-drinks meets Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Carlos Brito - Part IV 21 Jun 2018

Olly Wehring

In the final part of just-drinks' exclusive interview with Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Carlos Brito, we get a glimpse of the group's employee culture, we head over to China and we consider placing some bets.

"What people forget is this: The enemy is not here. We're all brewers" - just-drinks meets Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Carlos Brito - Part III 19 Jun 2018

Olly Wehring

Earlier this month, just-drinks sat down for a rare chat with Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Carlos Brito. In this, the penultimate in our four-part exclusive interview, we look at why volume still has a big part to play in the global beer category, why choice in the beer aisle continues to challenge brewers and where the shampoo industry has lost a customer.

"There are lots of trends out there that people feel beer doesn't belong in" - just-drinks meets Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Carlos Brito - Part II 14 Jun 2018

Olly Wehring

Late last week, just-drinks editor Olly Wehring met with Anheuser-Busch InBev's CEO, Carlos Brito, in London. Among the subjects discussed by the pair during their 90 minutes together were the trends that are set to shape the beer category globally, going forward - from premiumisation to the female consumer, from food-pairing to cannabis.

"In any integration, we've always talked about three kinds of synergies. With SABMiller, there was a fourth" - just-drinks meets Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Carlos Brito - Part I 13 Jun 2018

Olly Wehring

Late last week, just-drinks editor Olly Wehring met with Anheuser-Busch InBev's CEO in London. A notoriously-reluctant interviewee, Carlos Brito talked for over an hour about the brewer's learnings from SABMiller, the trends set to shape the future for the beer category and which bets the group has put down on potential growth opportunities going forward.

"Our latest campaign was fuelled by simply looking at Google" - just-drinks speaks to Beam Suntory's global chief marketing officer, Rebecca Messina 13 Jun 2018

Andy Morton

Rebecca Messina joined Beam Suntory two-and-a-half years ago to lead global marketing after spending the previous two decades with The Coca-Cola Co. This week, Messina took time out from Beam Suntory's annual global conference in Barcelona to sit down with just-drinks and talk about what lessons she has brought from Coca-Cola to her current role, the challenges of marketing around stock shortages and why there would be no winners from a Trump trade war.

"All of us feel a great deal of responsibility" - just-drinks meets Hector Gorosabel, Asahi Europe CEO - Part II 10 May 2018

Andy Morton

After leading the sell-off of SABMiller's European beer brands to Asahi, Hector Gorosabel was then hired by the Japanese group to take them to a new audience, as CEO of its European office. In the second of just-drinks' two-part interview (click here for part I), Gorosabel discusses how the old SAB playbook is still in use, the challenges of brewing Asahi Super Dry in Europe, and why the health & wellness trend shouldn't frighten the beer industry.

"At SABMiller, we went through a bit of disbelief and almost denial" - just-drinks meets Hector Gorosabel, Asahi Europe CEO - Part I 8 May 2018

Andy Morton

As the man in charge of Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Grolsch and SABMiller's other European brands sold off after its takeover, Hector Gorosabel had a front-row seat for the dismantlement of one of the world's major brewers. Then, Asahi came calling and offered him the chance to lead his former charges in a fresh direction for the Japanese giant. In a two-part interview with just-drinks, Gorosabel discusses how he came to accept his new role, and reveals the behind-the-scenes emotions as SABMiller went out of existence.

"Success in China is about being constantly visible" - just-drinks meets Stuart Barclay, GM of marketing at Wine Australia 17 Apr 2018

Lucy Britner

At the start of this year, the trade organisation for the Australian wine industry set out major investment plans for China, as sales to the country surged by 63% by value in 2017. Then, in March, Wine Australia appointed David Lucas to the newly-created role of regional general manager for Greater China, further signalling its dedication to the market.  At this year's ProWein, just-drinks sat down with  Wine Australia's GM of marketing, Stuart Barclay, to find out more about why Wine Australia is so excited about China.