Distell appointments set to keep it in the double digits

Marius Fouche

After leading the company's duty-free division since 2013 and delivering year-on-year double-digit volume growth to outperform the sector, Marius Fouche has been tasked with unlocking opportunities for Distell in Taiwan, where its Scottish Leader brand already dominates the Scotch whisky market.

In his newly created position as Distell Taiwan MD, effective from July 2015, he will be advancing the company's existing infrastructure and expertise in this high-potential emerging market, as a springboard to launch some of its other leading brands.

Taiwan's GDP has been forecast to grow above 3% this year. Rising personal expenditure matched by a rising demand for distinctive global brands, indicated promising potential for top-end spirits such as the prestigious range of Bisquit cognacs, and Amarula that is already sold in over 100 countries. Amarula Cream is the world's second biggest cream liqueur.

New Travel Retail appointment

Richard Trimby

His current role as MD Global Travel Retail will be filled by Richard Trimby, who comes with 25 years' experience in the wine and spirits industry in senior commercial and marketing roles. Previously with Treasury Wine Estates, he also spent a decade at Diageo in its travel retail division. He joined Distell in 2011.

"I am delighted to be returning to the travel retail where I started my career," said Trimby. "It's an exciting time for the industry and I look forward to working with our customers, building on the excellent foundation established so far. There is a huge opportunity for us to realise the full potential of the company's unique portfolio of brands."

Sixth continent - global travel

Fouche said the buoyant duty-free channel, worth US $1,159 billion in 2013 according to world tourism body UNWTO, was set to grow 3.3% a year. Some observers have dubbed the sector as the sixth continent of the world, given that over 1 billion people travel internationally every year.

He said that in addition to the global expertise Trimby would be now be contributing, the company's duty-free team had been substantially strengthened with the appointment of several seasoned regional general managers, initially in Europe and Asia and more recently, in Africa.

"When we became a separate business unit in 2013, our first task was to consolidate our presence in Europe, where we already enjoyed good trading relationships and distribution, and build on these. In addition, also evaluate the duty-free potential for our brands in Asia, capitalising on opportunities and strengthening distribution in key markets."

He said the division had recently landed important listings in Chinese travel retail and was building on relationships with retailers in Hong Kong, South Korea, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Africa, America - new targets

He described Africa's travel retail market beyond South Africa as still highly fragmented but with exciting potential in Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria.

"On the African continent, we are working in tandem with the major duty-free retailers to establish a presence for our brands, as international travel hubs evolve and new trading opportunities open up."

The travel retail division was driving a core of strong global brands, with innovative, occasion-based and seasonal offerings to mark events such as Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day, as well as culturally significant days in specific key markets.

Fouche said the division's next priority would be the Americas. "Through Amarula, a brand that enjoys considerable support in Latin America's duty-free and duty-paid environments, we have established a good presence for Distell and are now at the stage where we can develop the travel retail potential for some of our other global brands."