USA: Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates Names New Chief Marketing Officer
John A. Grant, 41, is now Executive Vice President, Marketing, for Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates Ltd., arriving from Australia after a 16-year beverage industry career which saw him named "Marketer of the Year" for leading Southcorp Wines through a major worldwide expansion. At Kendall-Jackson, he will coordinate U.S. marketing efforts for estate wineries in California, South America and Italy, including such well-known brands as Kendall-Jackson, Camelot, La Crema, Edmeades, Pepi, Calina and Tapiz. For most of the past decade he was a key executive for Australia's Southcorp, first as Executive General Manager for Southcorp Wines and, later, as GM for Southcorp's Appliance division, where he led a turn-around effort and successfully divested the business, and finally, as GM for Southcorp's Clean Air Systems group. The Australian Financial Review said recently that Southcorp had lost "one of its rising management stars" with Grant's move to KJWE. His industry experience includes stints with Lion Nathan International, the largest brewer and distributor of beer in Australasia (Australia and New Zealand), and with Cascade Brewing Company and Consolidated Liquor. Grant was a member of the successful Sydney 2000 Olympic bid committee, and attended both Melbourne University and Harvard University. The Australian Marketing Institute named him "Marketer of the Year" in 1996 for his work with Southcorp's l8 wine brands, which, under his direction expanded to sales of 12 million cases in 60 countries. Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates produces some of America's favorite wines from True Coast(TM) vineyards in California, including wines from Kendall-Jackson, La Crema, Pepi, Edmeades, Camelot and, from South America, Calina from Chile and Tapiz from Argentina.
May 16, 2000