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Ten leading Asian spirits executives

The drinks sector is seeking to drive change in the industry by ensuring that their workforces are diverse and inclusive. Here, we highlight 10 Asian spirits executives at the top of their game.

Coral Gill
Coral Gill, regional market director, Asia Pacific, Edrington

Across every industry, not just drinks, companies have pledged to support racial diversity and eradicate racism across their operations.

Some companies have set ambitious goals to champion diversity in their workplace, including Johnnie Walker owner Diageo, which is striving to have 45% representation of leaders from ethnically diverse backgrounds by 2030, and have 50% of all leadership roles occupied by women.

Meanwhile, a number of companies revealed new initiatives and investments to help people of all backgrounds enter the spirits sector, and stop the spread of racism.

Last year US drinks firm Constellation Brands, producer of Svedka vodka, pledged a US$100 million investment in Black and minority-owned alcohol businesses over the next decade.

In July 2020, Pernod Ricard USA created a crowdsourcing app to help consumers flag hate speech on social media. A number of major firms, including Beam Suntory, Brown-Forman, Pernod Ricard and Diageo, also joined the Stop Hate for Profit movement by pausing paid advertising on social media throughout July 2020 to tackle hate speech.

The Spirits Business reached out to a number of major spirits firms to ask them to highlight some of their top Asian executives, spanning roles in marketing, finance, public relations, brand management and travel retail.

Click through to the following pages to see 10 Asian executives across the spirits sector. 

To see our roundup of 10 of the industry’s top Black executives, click here.

Neeraj Kumar – managing director, Beam Suntory India

Neeraj Kumar assumed leadership of Beam Suntory India in October 2018 after serving in various marketing and commercial roles across several company markets, including India, Singapore and Australia.

India is one of Beam Suntory’s top two priority emerging markets, alongside China. The company aims to reach US$1 billion in both markets by 2030. Kumar is spearheading an ambitious growth agenda in the Indian market, focused on commercial agility, portfolio expansion and premiumisation.

In 2020, Beam Suntory India launched eight new brands, including the firm’s first Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) brand, Oaksmith, as well as Japanese whisky Toki.

As managing director, he has also led a cultural transformation of the business and introduced new policies to build an open culture, greater two-way communication, and build on India’s strong commitment to corporate social responsibility. Beam Suntory said Kumar has also prioritised making the company an employer of choice for women through a range of long-term initiatives, and has so far doubled female representation in the organisation in two years.

Before joining Beam Suntory, he worked at Electrolux and PepsiCo. Kumar is also currently on the board of ISWAI, India’s international alcohol industry body.

Coral Gill – regional market director, Asia Pacific, Edrington

Coral Gill leads the brand management of Edrington’s ultra-premium spirits brands across Asia Pacific, including The Macallan, The Glenrothes and Highland Park single malts Scotch brands. After graduating with a degree in engineering in her native Singapore, Gill went into marketing, gaining 25 years’ experience with international and luxury brands.

She joined Edrington in 2014 and as regional marketing director for Asia Pacific, her focus is on delivering consumer experiences for The Macallan, which is the region’s leading single malt Scotch.

Sho Semba – president, Asia region, Beam Suntory and managing executive officer, Suntory Holdings

As of this year, Sho Semba recently expanded his role as president of Beam Suntory’s Asia region. This responsibility now includes oversight of the Beam Suntory business in Japan, China and emerging Asia.

He also serves as managing executive officer for Suntory Holdings, Beam Suntory’s parent company. His career at Suntory Holdings spans 34 years, including key leadership roles in the wine, spirits and beer businesses in Japan and China.

Previously, Semba served as chief operating officer of Suntory Holdings’ group strategy planning division in 2015, and joined Beam Suntory’s executive leadership team as senior vice president, managing director, Beam Suntory Japan in 2017, later taking on the role as president of Japan and China in 2019.

Erica Son – brand PR director, Bacardi North America

In her current role at Bacardi’s North America arm, Erica Son manages public relations and influencer strategy for Grey Goose vodka and Bombay Sapphire gin. Bacardi said Son has helped create a ‘dynamic shift’ in how the business approaches brand communications and partnerships by embedding brands into the cultural conversation. She moved into the spirits sector two years ago when she joined Bacardi.

Originally from Massachusetts, Son is a first-generation Korean-American with a dual BA degree in English and art history from Wellesley College. With 12 years’ experience in communications, Son started out at a number of agencies in New York City, including Nike Communications, before moving in-house to manage public relations for luxury brands such as Georg Jensen, IWC Schaffhausen, and Roger Dubuis.

Outside of the industry, Son previously worked in the world of K-pop, managing the business ventures of singer Jessica Jung, formerly of South Korean band Girls’ Generation.

Lavanya Chandrashekar – chief financial officer, Diageo North America

Lavanya Chandrashekar joined Diageo as chief financial officer (CFO) of the North America business in July 2018. In the role, she has helped accelerate growth for Diageo’s North American arm, which later saw Chandrashekar manage investor relations internationally.

From 1 July 2021, Chandrashekar will become CFO for Diageo, taking over from Kathryn Mikells. She will also join the Diageo executive committee and board.

Prior to joining Diageo, Chandrashekar spent four-and-a-half years at Mondelēz International in various senior finance positions in North America, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. Her latest role at the firm was as vice president of finance, global cost leadership and supply chain.

Before Mondelēz International, she worked at Procter & Gamble for 18 years in senior finance roles.

Ann Mukherjee – chairman and CEO, Pernod Ricard North America

In December 2019, Ann Mukherjee joined Pernod Ricard North America as chairman and CEO. Pernod Ricard said Mukherjee is the first industry outsider and woman of colour to assume the position.

Mukherjee is said to have ignited growth for the business, particularly in the off-trade by improving speed to market and building brands through consumer-centric marketing.

In addition, Mukherjee has championed cultural issues through brand initiatives. She led the Absolut team in taking a stand on consent, rallied the company’s manufacturing facilities to produce hand sanitiser, and directed the company’s US$1 million investment in racial justice non-profits. Furthermore, Mukherjee called on associations, social media platforms and brands across industries to join a consumer movement to stop hate speech online.

Prior to joining Pernod Ricard, Mukherjee worked at SC Johnson and Company as its first global chief marketing officer and later held the role of global chief commercial officer, overseeing a $12 billion business division in more than 90 markets.

She previously worked at PepsiCo, most recently as president of global snacks and PepsiCo global insights, and was the former chief marketing officer for Frito-Lay North America.

Stephanie Tso – senior attorney, corporate and securities law, and assistant secretary, Brown-Forman

Stephanie Ann Tso is described by Brown-Forman as a ‘thoughtful and strategic’ legal partner in the areas of corporate governance, securities compliance, mergers and acquisitions, tax, and finance.

Tso provides clear legal and business advice to a number of functional business groups within Brown-Forman. She also has experience in advising higher-level executives and presenting to, and serving as secretary for, the audit committee of the board.

Furthermore, Tso co-founded Brown-Forman’s Asian employee resource group and is an active member of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. A Texas native, Tso holds a BA from the University of Oklahoma and a JD from Washington University in St Louis, Missouri.

Zeenah Vilcassim – global brand director, Dewar’s

Zeenah Vilcassim joined Bacardi in 2017 as the global brand director for blended Scotch brand Dewar’s, overseeing integrated marketing activities and communications planning. In the past year, she oversaw the launch of two innovations: the Dewar’s Double Double range and Dewar’s Caribbean Smooth – the first in an innovation series that ‘helped accelerate recruitment’ into the brand. During her time working on the brand, Dewar’s saw a return to growth, Bacardi said.

Over the past two years, Vilcassim has hosted an annual workshop for the London School of Economics’ marketing students, focusing on insight-led creativity and career coaching.

Of Sri Lankan decent, Vilcassim grew up in the US before moving to London and is now preparing to move to India this year to take on a new role as head of marketing for Bacardi India, overseeing all consumer and customer marketing for the full Bacardi portfolio.

Hina Nagarajan – managing director of Africa regional markets, Diageo

Hina Nagarajan, the current managing director of Africa regional markets (ARM) for Diageo, joined the Johnnie Walker owner in summer 2018.

She is set to become the new CEO of Diageo’s Indian arm United Spirits on 1 July, taking over from Anand Kripalu. She will also join Diageo’s executive committee, reporting to John Kennedy, president of Europe and India.

The new role will see Nagarajan move to Bangalore, India, where United Spirits is headquartered, in April. She will work closely with Kripalu on ensuring a smooth handover.

Nagarajan manages Diageo operations in Ghana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, the Indian Ocean, Angola and several other countries. Under her leadership, ARM has become a major growth driver for Diageo’s Africa unit, the group said.

Before joining Diageo, Nagarajan spent more than 30 years in consumer packaged goods and held several senior marketing and general management roles at Reckitt Benckiser, Nestlé India and Mary Kay India.

Mohit Lal – chairman and CEO, Pernod Ricard GTR

Mohit-Lal

Mohit Lal, chairman and CEO of Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail (PR GTR), has 35 years’ experience in the food and drinks industry, including more than 20 years in India.

His career at Pernod Ricard began in 1999 as financial director at Seagram India, which was acquired by the French firm in 2001. Between 2006 and 2011, Lal served as Irish Distillers’ financial director before returning to India as managing director of Pernod Ricard’s Indian business.

Lal was appointed managing director of Pernod Ricard Travel Retail Asia in 2015, and took on his current role a year later. In 2017 he moved to London following the reorganisation of the company’s GTR business, which brought together the Asia Pacific, Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa travel retail subsidiaries.

Pernod Ricard said Lal is a ‘firm advocate of a vibrant future of the travel retail channel and its strategic importance to the wines and spirits industry’.

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