The big interview: Eveline Albarracin, Brown-Forman and APISWA
Eveline Albarracin offers a look at her dual roles as Asia Pacific senior vice-president, managing director at Brown-Forman and chair of the Asia Pacific International Spirits and Wines Alliance.
*This feature was originally published in the December 2025 issue of The Spirits Business magazine.
Asia Pacific (APAC) is a fascinatingly complex market. Rich in culture and history, it’s a region that offers fast growth, strong competition, an abundance of opportunities, and, like most markets, its fair set of challenges.
Few people understand the ups and downs of Asia Pacific as intimately as Eveline Albarracin, senior vice-president and managing director for Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands at Jack Daniel’s owner Brown-Forman. Since joining the company almost six years ago, Albarracin’s responsibilities expanded beyond Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands to cover India, the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye, and today, she now covers the APAC region. “It is crucial to understand that APAC is not one homogenous market; rather, it is a mosaic,” she explains. “Given that preferences vary widely across its highly unique markets, a nuanced approach is absolutely essential when discussing APAC.”
Before joining Brown-Forman, Albarracin spent 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, which included leading regional teams in Australia and New Zealand at Galderma Nestlé Skin Health.
“Stepping into the world of spirits with Brown-Forman has provided me with opportunities to engage with talented individuals from diverse markets and backgrounds – which were all crucial for navigating such a dynamic region,” Albarracin says.
Balancing roles
At present, Albarracin wears two hats, her Brown-Forman title and the rotational position of chair of the Asia Pacific International Spirits and Wines Alliance (APISWA). “Balancing my role at Brown-Forman and as chair of APISWA has allowed me to lean in closer to the issues that matter most to our industry. For example, the need to create conditions for spirits and wines to contribute to growth in the region, across retail, hospitality, tourism, and to promote responsible consumption habits,” she says.
The association represents the interests of key international wine and spirits producers across the APAC region, and includes Bacardi, Brown-Forman, Campari, Diageo, Moët Hennessy, Pernod Ricard, Rémy Cointreau, Suntory Global Spirits, and William Grant & Sons. This is a particularly poignant year for APISWA because 2025 marks 10 years of the alliance.
“I’m incredibly proud of how the organisation has grown to become the leading authority on wine and spirits in the Asia Pacific region,” Albarracin says. “As a trade association, APISWA plays an important role to advance the industry’s interests.”
She mentions the three key aims of APISWA: to advocate for the industry, support local trade associations in APAC, and work with governments to implement policies that address local issues and support industry growth. She adds: “Key advocacy areas include taxation and regulatory issues, illicit and unrecorded alcohol, promoting responsible drinking and adoption of industry standards, as well as positioning industry as an integral contributor to the wider hospitality and tourism sector.
“In the past year since chairing APISWA, there have been regulatory changes across the region – some support industry growth, while others may potentially have a negative impact on the industry. For example, we applaud the authorities in Hong Kong for cutting tax on spirits, and positioning the city strongly to capture growth opportunities. In Cambodia, we remain committed to helping the government to implement a legal drinking age, so we can encourage the responsible sale and consumption of our products.”
Myriad challanges
Singapore, as an example APAC market, has faced difficulties in 2024/25. The country has seen several leading bars shut down this year, and in July the Singaporean arm of distributor Proof & Company went into liquidation – a decision the business attributed to the closure of some of its longest-standing partner restaurants and bars. A deep dive by The Spirits Business into the struggles in Singapore this year highlighted myriad challenges in the country: lack of rent control, changing consumer habits, staffing issues, plus licensing and alcohol rules, which all appear to be creating a challenging business environment.
Zooming out on the APAC region, in 2024 total beverage alcohol volumes fell by 2%, according to IWSR, and by value the decline was 3%. However, as Albarracin highlights: “There are opportunities for growth in this region, particularly in Southeast Asia, which has seen a boost in cocktail culture and an increase in premium tourism.”
For Albarracin and the APISWA team, this optimism isn’t just lip service. The alliance teamed up with Oxford Economics to publish a report in October 2024, Capturing High Quality Tourism for Southeast Asia the Impact of Premium F&B Experiences on Destination Choices. The study explored insights into the next frontier of Southeast Asia’s travel recovery, and how the industry can capture the rising demand for premium, safe, and high-value food and beverage experiences.
Albarracin points out some key findings from the report about premium tourism in Southeast Asia. Governments in the region are viewing tourism as a key contributor to economic growth, particularly during tough times when local spending is reduced. Furthermore, the findings showed policymakers are shifting from volume to value, looking for higher spending, longer-staying visitors who are willing to spend more on premium tourism experiences – and that includes food and drinks.
In addition, more than 70% of those surveyed suggested food and beverage offerings were important or very important to where they chose to travel. For travellers with more disposable income to spend, that share was even higher, at 75% of respondents. A destination also becomes 2.5 times more attractive to tourists when premium food and beverage experiences are available, compared with ‘standard service offerings’. It’s a clear indication that experiences matter hugely to consumers.
“While global premiumisation appears to be softening, Southeast Asia continues to offer strong potential for value growth, supported by resilient tourism, a vibrant cocktail culture, and rising affluence across key markets like Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore,” Albarracin says. “The boost in cocktail culture in the region caters to consumers who are constantly seeking new experiences, with the likes of Asia’s 50 Best Bars driving vibrant on-trade growth across the region. These lead to excitement and momentum, and contribute to growing the premium tourism and hospitality sector in the region.”
Moderate consumption
As well as the growth of cocktail culture, one of the most significant shifts Albarracin has recently seen is consumer attitudes to moderate alcohol consumption. In June 2025, an IWSR BevTrac report countered some widespread notions about Gen Z drinking habits. Albarracin says the data shows “moderation is a nuanced trend that calls for greater understanding of consumer motivations and consumption habits. For example, the report stated that, contrary to popular belief, alcohol consumption among Gen Z consumers has seen notable growth, indicating that they are discovering new ways of enjoying alcohol.”
In the next couple of years, Albarracin expects the industry to grow in the APAC region, “especially in Southeast Asia, supported… by the dynamism of the tourism and hospitality sector”. New product development will also be a crucial growth driver, with IWSR data showing opportunities across emerging categories such as RTDs, new spirits, and a broader spectrum of ABV options. “As an industry, our priority should be to offer consumers meaningful choices when they choose to drink,” she maintains.
As interest and opportunities in alcohol grow throughout APAC, APISWA has focused on its efforts to educate consumers about responsible drinking. This March, the alliance organised its inaugural Responsible Drinking Week. The campaign brought together local APAC trade groups to promote responsible drinking in the region.
APISWA also launched the Responsible Drinking APAC website, to enable consumers to easily access information about alcohol and, hopefully, “make better choices and understand more about alcohol and their body”, Albarracin adds.
These developments have been supported further with APISWA’s ‘Power of No’ digital public awareness campaign in partnership with the Automobile Association of Vietnam. Aimed at young, legal-drinking-age adults in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, the initiative saw a regional network of 28 partners from government, civil society, and the private sector working together. “It has reached over 40 million young adults with the goal of changing the culture around drink driving in Southeast Asia,” Albarracin says about the vast reach of the campaign.
It is clear that this complex market is brimming with opportunities for those willing to be proactive and unlock its full potential. Despite a challenging couple of years, Albarracin remains optimistic about the region’s future – and she has good reasons to be encouraged, as we’ve explored. There’s a lot of work to be done to support a return to growth for the region’s alcohol market – but Albarracin and the wider APISWA alliance are ready to rise to the challenge. For at the end of the day, as Albarracin notes: “For many adults who choose to drink, across cultures, enjoying a beer, spirit, or wine is an important part of socialisation, enjoyment, and relaxation.”
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