Latest drinks industry interviews

Diageo CEO Ivan Menezes on the future of gin, the growth of no-alcohol and the plan to kick-start vodka 26 Jul 2018

Lucy Britner

Earlier today, Diageo released its full-year 2018 results, with growth coming from all regions. just-drinks spoke to CEO Ivan Menezes after the announcement to discuss the challenging vodka market, increasing thirst for no- and low-alcohol drinks and the booming gin category. 

"The consolidation of the spirits industry is not over" - just-drinks speaks to Pernod Ricard's CEO of EMEA & LatAm, Gilles Bogaert 17 Jul 2018

Lucy Britner

Earlier this month, Pernod Ricard's former MD of finance, Gilles Bogaert, moved to head up the group's Europe, Middle East & Africa and Latin America division. just-drinks sat down with Bogaert at the company's Capital Markets Day in China to talk about the job transition, the future of M&A and how data has changed the business.

"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.