Vinarchy is one of the world’s largest specialist wine companies, formed by merging Accolade Wines and Pernod Ricard Winemakers across Australia, New Zealand, Spain, and South Africa. Their portfolio centers on leading wine brands such as Hardys, Jacob’s Creek, Campo Viejo, Stoneleigh, Brancott Estate, Grant Burge, and premium labels including St Hugo and Tarsus.
With 11 wineries, over AU$1.5 billion in annual revenue, and 1,600+ global employees, Vinarchy operates across key categories: everyday table wine, premium regional bottlings, and sparkling wine .
The Brief
Following a re-structure of Accolade Wines' commercial function prior to the merger, there was a requirement for a Category Manager and Senior Category Manager to join the team with 2 newly created roles.
Operating in a specific category, they were looking for previous client-side category experience, and a proven ability to learn new categories if not coming from the wine category already. As customer category management roles, the focus was on finding a balance of analytical and customer/relationship management skills & experience.
The Process & Result
Already working on a number of other category management roles and with an extensive network of candidates within this space, we were able quickly identify and introduce a range of candidates with backgrounds in either wine or broader FMCG, who possessed the technical skills they were looking for.
Following a number of interviews, two hires were made – the Senior Category Manager coming from Unilever outside of wine, and the other from another wine business, stepping up from an Executive level role.
