BEAM GLOBAL SPIRITS & WINE ANNOUNCES GENERAL MANAGERS FOR U.S. BOURBON AND CLASSICS CATEGORY BUSINESS TEAMS

Paula Erickson

Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc.

847-444-7590 

paula.erickson@beamglobal.com

Nicole Chardavoyne

Qorvis Communications

202-683-3102

 

Deerfield, Ill.– April 9, 2010 – Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc., the premium spirits business of Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE: FO), today announced the appointment of Drew Munro to general manager of the Bourbon U.S. Category Business Team (CBT) and welcomes Jay Mathew as general manager of the Classics U.S. CBT.

 

Beam Global’s U.S. commercial marketing function is organized into three integrated, cross-functional category business teams focused on consumer buying categories: Bourbon (including Jim Beam® Bourbon, the Small Batch Bourbon Collection® and Maker’s Mark® Bourbon), Classics (including Courvoisier® Cognac, Canadian Club® Canadian Whisky and Laphroaig® Scotch Whisky) and Mixables (including Sauza® Tequila, Cruzan® Rum and DeKuyper® Cordials and Liqueurs). The general managers for each business unit are responsible for a cross-functional team whose focus is the growth of the brands in the U.S. market.

 

“Drew has been integral to Beam Global’s success for more than a decade. He is absolutely the right leader for our Bourbons and will help us expand our global leadership in the category,” said Bill Newlands, president Beam Global U.S. “We’re also pleased to welcome Jay Mathew to the Beam Global team and look forward to his contributions and proven brand-building abilities to our Classics brands.”

 

Munro is a veteran Beam Global employee, having worked for the company for the last 14 years. He oversaw the launch of Beam Global Canada as managing director and has extensive knowledge of the business from his work in various marketing and commercial positions in 30 different countries on behalf of Beam Global. Munro holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from The University of Strathclyde in Scotland.

 

Mathew joins Beam Global from Unilever where he held various senior sales, sales strategy, shopper marketing and brand marketing roles with increasing responsibility. Most recently, Mathew has served as marketing director deodorants USA, managing the financial and marketing plans for Unilever’s portfolio of brands. Mathew holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Iowa, as well as a master’s degree in business administration from DePaul University.