Subscribe

Subscribe to news & events
Request Access
Close
Drinks Trade
Respect in Drinks

Our Board Members

Chair

Ralph Dunning

Director

Ralph Dunning has spent forty-four years working in the Australian wine industry representing wineries from across Australia and across the globe. He is a widely respected top-level wine executive who, for more than 27 years, at different times, headed both the Sales and Marketing divisions of the Yalumba Wine Company. He has been the Treasurer of the Wine Communicators of Australia, the Executive Officer of Australia’s First Families of Wine, a consultant to the wine industry in general, and a founding partner of Byron & Harold Wines based in Margaret River, W.A. Ralph is passionate about wine and the liquor industry at large and for twenty-eight years has been an active and enthusiastic board member of the Drinks Association of Australia – serving for the last twenty two years as Chair of the Board.

Jara Consulting

Deputy Chair

Michael Ritoli

Commercial Director – Field Sales Asahi Beverages

Michael has extensive experience in Sales and Human Resources and has a strong track record of leading and developing highly effective sales teams and the ability to align achievements and goals to the corporate vision. Michael has over 30 years’ experience in the beverage industry having worked with Foster’s, CCA and CUB. Michael has been on the Drinks Association board for 12 years.

Carlton & United Breweries

Treasurer

Natalee Rolfe

CFO – Treasury Collective

Natalee Rolfe is the Chief Financial Officer of Treasury Collective, a division of Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), where she leads global financial operations across Australia, Asia, EMEA, and the United States. Based in Melbourne, Natalee brings over two decades of finance leadership experience within the global consumer goods and beverage industries.
Since joining TWE in 2019, Natalee has held several senior roles, including leading the ANZ Finance team and transitioning into corporate finance, where she played a pivotal role in executing two major acquisitions. She also undertook a secondment as Finance Director in the UK, further broadening her international experience. In her current role, Natalee also serves as a director of TWE entities in the Netherlands and Nordics.
Prior to TWE, Natalee spent 12 years at Coca-Cola Amatil (now Coca-Cola Europacific Partners), holding various finance and sales leadership positions. Her earlier career includes finance roles at Revlon Australia and Alfagomma, beginning in 2001.
Natalee is recognised for her strategic acumen, cross-market expertise, and unwavering commitment to delivering sustainable financial performance in the wine and spirits sector.

Treasury Wine Estates

Executive Directors

Mark Churi

National Sales Manager Business Development

A seasoned sales professional, Mark holds extensive experience in senior leadership roles across both large and medium size wine businesses. Mark has steered the premiumisation of the Casella Family Brands portfolio since early 2013 with drive and enthusiasm. He is committed to building strong solution centric business relationships.

Casella Family Brands
Kerry Appathurai

Sales Director

With a strong career in sales and strategy, spanning over 25 years, Kerry has worked in large global FMCG organisations such as Nestle, Parmalat (Lactalis) and Cadbury (Mondelez). Kerry entered the liquor industry, joining Lion in 2018 and holding senior positions in the leadership team over the past 5 years. In Kerry’s current role as Sales Director, Kerry is responsible for all customers across both Retail and the On Premise, leading a strong team of +400 people who sell and ‘help sell’ the Lion beverage portfolio. A strong advocate for people, performance and partnerships, Kerry leads with a solutions focus and is passionate about creating winning partnerships, high performance teams, and developing and delivering new opportunities that improve business performance.

Lion Australia
Sarah Parkes

General Manager Sales & Marketing ANZ, Asia & EMEA Treasury Premium Brands

Sarah’s career spans 25 years in the Drinks Industry, beginning her career at Diageo, before spending time at PepsiCo in a range of Field Sales & Customer Management leadership roles. Sarah joined TWE in September 2017 and since that time has played a significant role in driving the performance of our portfolio across the retail channel, building deep customer partnerships through her highly collaborative and solutions focused approach. Sarah has spent time in Singapore managing our Asia business, and is now back in our head office in Melbourne where she currently leads our Marketing and Sales team across Europe, UK, Asia & ANZ in her role as GM Sales and Marketing International.

Treasury Wine Estates

Directors

Aaron Lohrey

Head of Sales ANZ

Aaron brings nearly two decades of experience in the beverage industry, and is a proven leader in national sales strategy across multiple channels, including retail, on-premise, and independent off-premise. He consistently delivers high-growth results through creative strategic management, multi-channel distribution leadership, and a strong focus on operational excellence. His cross-functional initiatives have supported national expansion and driven sustained profitability.

Australian Vintage
Andrew Clarke

Managing Director ANZ

Andrew is a highly driven Senior Executive, with over 30 years in the FMCG industry, and a wealth of experience operating successfully at President and General Management levels in global brand-leading companies.
With significant exposure in multiple countries and categories, and with deep and broad experience here in Australia.

Vinarchy
Andrew Cooper

Executive Director

Andrew has over 20 years business experience in domestic and international markets, having lived and worked across Australia and APAC when he was based in Singapore. He has performed roles across commercial, sales and marketing with experience gained in world leading liquor businesses Diageo and Pernod Ricard, and investment banking at Macquarie Bank. Andrew holds a Master of Business Administration, a Bachelor of Economics and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Today, Andrew is a 6th generation custodian of Coopers Brewery and has a passion for business culture and performance, people leadership, Australian brand stories and quality products.

Coopers Brewery
Dominic Biasi

Vice President Sales

Dominic joined Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) in 1996 (became Coca-Europacific Partners (CCEP) in May 2021) as part of the graduate program and has worked his way through State and National roles across channels including alcohol as well as leading field teams and managing key customers.

Dominic has held senior commercial roles at CCA/CCEP across all channels including At Home, Away from Home and Licensed to name a few and was most recently Vice President, Commercial Excellence, Neverfail & Grinders where he created the Commercial Excellence function focused on Revenue Growth Management, Category, Trade Marketing, Commercial operations including Route to Market and Commercial strategy and insights as well leading two stand-alone businesses in Neverfail and Grinders coffee.

Dominic is currently in the position of Vice President - Away from Home, where he is leading the integration of the licensed channel into AFH and driving the small store strategy and growth ambition.

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners
Erin Kerr

Head of New Business

Erin has 13 years' experience in the spirits industry across Supply Chain and Marketing, with a decade leading iconic global brands in Australia including Jack Daniel’s, Bombay Sapphire and Bacardi.
Erin is Head of New Business at Bacardi-Martini Australia, a new role focused on strategy and portfolio development, driving BMA forward into new category, brand and partnership opportunities. Prior to Bacardi, Erin spent 8 years with Brown Forman in a variety of roles, culminating in leading the Jack Daniel’s RTD portfolio.
She is a strong advocate for women in liquor and leadership. Erin holds a Bachelor of Arts & Communication and Master of Commerce.

Bacardi-Martini Australia
Fraser Lockwood

General Manager

Fraser has over 18 years’ experience working in the FMCG and liquor industry. He spent over 8 years at Bacardi-Martini Australia working across insights, innovation and brand management, including leading the marketing function for Australia and the 42below brand globally. In the last 8 years Fraser has headed up the marketing team at Sazerac AUNZ and then more recently the APAC region. In 2024, Fraser moved into the role of GM – Sazerac AUNZ where he leads the new chapter for the business.

Sazerac
Glen Scarlett

Commercial Director

Glen has a passion for driving capability development within teams, and a keen eye for customer centric strategy that drives joint business initiatives and growth. He has worked in the liquor industry for over 25 years and has worked for Pernod Ricard for the past 10 years. Glen previously worked in the UK and moved back to Australia in 2006.

Pernod Ricard Australia
Gordon Treanor

Sales Director – Licensed

Gordon Treanor is an accomplished leader with over 25 years’ experience in the FMCG sector, both in Australia and across the globe. Recently appointed as Sales Director, Licensed, for Suntory Oceania, Gordon is leading the creation of the businesses’ new Alcohol Route to Market team which will be at the forefront of business transformation as Suntory Oceania grows to become a multi-beverage powerhouse. Gordon and his team will be working with over 40 iconic beverages including Jim Beam, Canadian Club, Makers Mark and luxury House of Suntory products once the partnership goes live in mid-2025.

As a seasoned industry expert, who brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to the role, positioning him as a key driver of success in Suntory’s future endeavours. Before joining Suntory Oceania, Gordon served as Managing Director at Lion's global drinks business in Europe and Asia, where he successfully integrated multiple businesses to create a robust platform servicing beer, wine, and spirit brands. His leadership style emphasises strategic vision and collaborative execution, ensuring alignment between business objectives and market realities.

Gordon's appointment underscores Suntory Oceania's commitment to driving growth and innovation in the Australian alcohol market.

Suntory Oceania
Ilknur Tukelija

Sales Director

As the Sales Director for Australia, Ilknur leads the commercial strategies and is a cultural steward managing a team of 80+ people centred on building a highly engaged and high performing team.
Ilknur is skilled in articulating and engendering commitment to Brown-Forman’s vision and is a strong and trusted leader, with over 20 years of experience in a variety of roles. Her supportive leadership style both inspires and uni?es individuals to achieve goals and objectives as a team. One of Ilknur’s key aims is to develop a culture of excellence by nurturing individuals to build skills capability and provide an inclusive work environment in whatever role she takes on.

Brown-Forman Australia
Jack Glover

Executive Director – Marketing and Sales

With more than two decades worth of experience in the wine industry, Jack Glover has an extensive record of business leadership roles across Australia, New Zealand and export markets. He's driven global marketing and sales strategies for luxury wine brands at Accolade Wines, Pernod Ricard, Mud House Wine Group, and today leads the global marketing and sales function at one of Australia’s most prestigious family-owned wine companies.

Born and Bred from a family of Grapegrowers and winemakers in Marlborough, New Zealand, Jack is also global wine judge and a Stage 2 Master of Wine student and spent 6 years as a board member at Wine Marlborough.

Joining Hill-Smith Family Estates in late 2023, Jack has brought substantial knowledge across sales, marketing, winemaking and viticulture plus a holistic approach to improving business performance and his various roles as a leader, mentor, and coach.

Hill Smith Family Estates
Jacopo Borsa

Managing Director

With over 20 years of experience in the spirits business, Jacopo Borsa has built a career rooted in dedication, adaptability, and a genuine passion for the industry. His work has taken him across more than six countries, allowing him to gain valuable insights into diverse markets and cultures.
Spending more than two decades at Campari, Jacopo has contributed to the company’s growth and success, working alongside talented teams and learning from industry leaders. His approach is centred on collaboration, continuous learning, and a commitment to excellence.
Jacopo remains focused on driving meaningful impact, fostering strong partnerships, and navigating the evolving landscape of the spirits sector. His experience, combined with a humble and forward-thinking perspective, continues to shape his journey in the industry.

Campari Australia
Jonathan Sully

Global Brand Director Heritage Brands & Head of Marketing ANZ

Jonathan Sully has over 20 years’ experience leading global, regional and local teams in both marketing, sales and general management. Beginning his career with Diageo in the UK, he has worked extensively in FMCG, media and entertainment, including leadership roles with Hasbro US, FOX Sports and Disney ANZ, specialising in digital media. More recently Jonathan returned to the drinks industry as Marketing Director for Bacardi and is currently Global Brand Director Heritage Brands & Head of Marketing for William Grant and Sons ANZ.

William Grant & Sons
Katherine Johnstone

General Manager

Katherine Johnstone brings more than 15 years of leadership experience in the liquor industry, with expertise across sales and supply chain. She currently serves as General Manager at ALM, overseeing operations across the Queensland, NSW and ACT markets. In her role at ALM, she is responsible for wholesale supply chain and on-premise sales, driving efficiency and commercial performance across both areas. Her career includes key leadership roles at ALM and a nine-year tenure at Campari Australia, where she delivered strong commercial outcomes and built high-performing teams. Katherine brings a wealth of industry knowledge, strategic expertise, and a collaborative leadership style.

Australian Liquor Marketers
Michael McKeown

General Manager of Sales & Marketing

Mick is an experienced Sales & Marketing Director with a successful history in launching and driving large scale consumer brands. He is currently the General Manager of Sales & Marketing at Good Drinks Australia.

Good Drinks Australia
Mitchell Taylor

Chairman

Mitchell Taylor is the Chairman of Taylors Wines Pty Ltd after 25 years as Managing Director. Mitchell worked in finance and stockbroking in both London and Sydney before joining Taylors Wines in 1988 and later becoming the Managing Director in 2000. His commitment to the Australian wine industry extends to involvement in key industry associations, including his role as a founding and current director of Australia’s First Families of Wine, Chairman of the National Wine Foundation, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Director & Vice President of Australia Grape & Wine, Chair of the Medium Winemakers Committee and part of the Strategic Committee that created ‘The Australian Grape & Wine Sector Vision 2050’. In October 2018 Mitchell joined the Wine Australia Board where he served for two terms as a Director. He is also currently the Chair of the Clare Valley Wine & Grape Association and Chair of the Nominations Committee of Australian Grape & Wine.

Taylors Wines Pty Ltd
Nathan Rowe

Chief Executive Officer

Nathan has been a Director at Paramount Liquor for ten years and is a Certified Practising Accountant (CPA).

Paramount Liquor
Paul Tucker

Sales Director Australia

Currently the Sales Director for Moet Hennessy Australia, Paul bringing over 20 years’ experience to the role.
Paul has a truly global perspective having worked across FMCG, with 10 years at P&G (UK, Australia, Singapore and South-East Asia) , Luxury Beauty with L’Oreal (Australia) and the last 8 years with Moet Hennessy (UK & Australia).

Moet Hennessey Australia
Sarah Shimmons

Marketing & Innovation Director

Sarah is the Marketing and Innovation Director for Diageo Australia and a seasoned marketing leader with over 15 years of global drinks industry experience. An Irish native, Sarah started her Diageo journey 7 years ago in Ireland and has since worked in GB, North America, and Global Travel Retail before her move to the Australia business in 2025. Sarah has a passion for creativity, innovation, and the end-to-end consumer marketing journey.

Diageo
Shane Bulluss

General Manager Sales, Australia & NZ

Shane has over 20 years leadership experience working with market leading global FMCG products and Australian wine brands. He is a creative leader who thrives on a challenge and has strong commercial acumen in developing strategies to achieve business results. He is passionate about creating an environment of success for both customers and colleagues with a proven track record of developing high performing collaborative teams., Shane has extensive experience in the liquor industry, having previously worked at Diageo, Constellation Brands and Treasury Wine Estates.

Brown Family Wine Group

Alternate Directors

Annette Tseung

Head of Sales Australia

With over 15 years’ experience in the drinks industry, Annette joined the team at Taylors Wines in January 2020 as the Head of Sales. Annette’s experience spans a range of commercial roles at Accolade Wines & Diageo in customer management, leading large teams, operations, planning & strategy.

Taylors Wines Pty Ltd
Chloe Gibson

Integrated Business Planning Director

Chloe is currently with Lion Australia and brings over 20 years of experience across both supplier and retailer environments. She was recently appointed as IBP Director, where she is leading transformational change and driving the development of world-class integrated business planning capabilities.
She has held senior leadership roles across sales and category throughout her time at Lion, and previously served as Customer Director for Coles, National Field & E-Commerce, and before that, as Customer Director for Endeavour Group.
Prior to joining Lion, Chloe held roles in category management, commercial finance, and strategy within the retail sector—both in Australia with Coles Group and in the UK with Asda. She began her career at Ernst & Young and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Lion Australia
Anthony Wagstaff

Customer Marketing Director

Anthony is currently Customer Marketing Director at Campari Australia, with responsibility for Channel Strategy, Trade Activation, Education and Revenue Growth Management. Anthony has worked the FMCG industry for 25years and has held leadership positions in Sales, Category Management, as well as Customer Marketing having worked for Cadbury Schweppes, Clorox, Blackmores and Campari.

Campari Australia
Chris O'Shea

Head of Category & Insights

Chris has over 15 years’ experience in both the FMCG and liquor industry across Commercial, Revenue Management and Sales and Category functions. Chris is a qualified Chartered Accountant and prior to joining Brown Forman, he held roles at KPMG, Coca-Cola, Nestle and Australian Vintage.

Brown-Forman Australia
Dani Smith

Regional Head of People & Culture APAC

Dani has over 15 years experience in People & Culture within FMCG companies, currently serving as Regional Head of People & Culture APAC for Sazerac, supporting AUNZ, North Asia, South East Asia and Greater China. Dani is passionate about achieving business growth through sustainable people initiatives, and has diverse experience across liquor, manufacturing and specialty coffee. With a deep passion for sustainability and equality, Dani has led initiatives around diversity and inclusion, BCORP certification, carbon and waste assessment and ethics & social governance.

Sazerac
David Stevenson

Head of Business Insights and Category

David is a Sales and Marketing professional with over 25 years liquor industry experience across retail, wholesale and producer. Having worked in a variety of customer and marketing roles across beer, wine and spirits categories during this time, most recently David has been part of the Brown Family Wine Group as National Business Manager (Endeavour Drinks Group), before taking up his current role as Head of Business Insights and Category.

Brown Family Wine Group
Heath Grosvenor

National Sales Manager - State Operations

Heath Grosvenor is the National Sales Manager – State Operations for Coopers Brewery covering the Australian & New Zealand markets. Heath has over 25 years of liquor experience across both Australia & New Zealand and has been with Coopers Brewery for 16 years in sales roles based in Melbourne, Auckland & Brisbane. Prior to Coopers Brewery Heath held a variety of sales / marketing roles at Grolsch International, Tucker Seabrook, Carlton & United Breweries and began his sales journey with Coca-Cola Amatil in Adelaide.

Cooper Brewery
John Grimes

Regional Manager NSW & ACT

Commencing his career with BRL Hardy in 1992, John has dedicated his working life to the wine industry. He has held various roles in both the domestic and global markets with BRL Hardy, Kingston Estate and De Bortoli Wines. John joined Hill Smith Family Estates (Samuel Smith & Sons) in 2015.

Hill-Smith Family Estates
Kate Tee

Category & Customer Marketing Manager

Kate has over 20 years’ experience in the FMCG & alcohol business, starting her career as an ABM on Guinness at the Guinness brewery in London. She then went on to work for Diageo both in the UK and Australia working across many roles & brands in brand, trade & digital marketing, CRM & capability development. In a break from alcohol, she worked at Nestle Australia, driving the Uncle Tobys Masterbrand, digital & sponsorship strategies, but then returned to the industry, joining Bacardi Martini Australia to run the Customer Marketing Department. More recently Kate has come full circle back to beer, and is the head of Category & Customer Marketing at Good Drinks Australia.

Good Drinks Australia
Kristy Rutherford

Marketing Director Australia & New Zealand

Kristy started her career over 16 years ago with Unilever, as the Marketing Assistant on Paddle Pop ice cream, and has been bringing her innovative thinking, passion for people and drive for impact to businesses ever since. She joined Pernod Ricard in 2019, and worked across spirits, RTDs and wine, before moving to the role of Marketing Director for Australia and New Zealand. Prior to this, she had a diverse career with Unilever, working across many categories such as tea, male grooming, and margarine spreads, both here and in North America. Kristy never shies away from a challenge, loves seeing businesses pushing the boundaries and having real impact in people’s lives.

Pernod Ricard Winemakers
Luiz Schmidt

Managing Director

Originally from Brazil, Luiz Schmidt has built a diverse career in the spirits industry over the past 25 years, working across North America, Latin America, and Australia.
He spent 16 years with Brown-Forman, where he led marketing for the Latin American region and successfully established the Brazilian operation, which became a top-five global market for Jack Daniel's. In 2020, Luiz joined Bacardi as Marketing Director for Latin America, based in Panama, where he continued to drive growth and innovation.
In 2023, Luiz transitioned to Australia to lead Bacardi-Martini ANZ as Managing Director, where he focuses on growing the business and strengthening its iconic brands in the region.
Luiz holds an MBA from the University of Technology Sydney and enjoys exploring Sydney’s amazing beaches and watering holes. With global experience and passion for the industry, Luiz is committed to fostering collaboration and delivering results.

Bacardi-Martini Australia
Matthew Jeffrey

Chief Operating Officer

With over two decades of comprehensive expertise in the liquor industry. Matt currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Paramount Liquor, having dedicated over five years to Paramount Liquor in various roles across New South Wales and Victoria. Matt previously cultivated his career with a mix of sales, management and ownership including notable entities like Bacardi. Additionally, he has demonstrated entrepreneurial prowess in his professional journey.

Paramount Liquor
Sandra Gibbs

Group Chief Supply Chain Officer

Sandra is a supply chain professional with extensive experience in FMCG. A people focused, results driven leader, she has over 20 years experience in ANZ and international beverage organisations. Customer and consumer focused, Sandra currently leads the largest beverage supply footprint in ANZ covering manufacturing, logistics, planning, quality, NPD, operational excellence, strategy, and technical platforms for growth. Sandra has led significant transformation programmes and is focused on providing people with career opportunities and development.

Asahi Beverages
Simon Cleave

Head of ALM Merchandise

Simon is currently the Head of Merchandise at Australian Liquor Marketers. Simon has over 25 years' experience in the liquor industry having worked for Coles, Pernod Ricard and ALM.
Simon's previous roles have included leading buying teams, category management, strategy development and execution, revenue growth management and planning.

Australian Liquor Marketers
Warwick Parks

Head of RTM Transformation Australia

Warwick has over 20 years experience in the liquor industry across sales leadership, strategy and commercial roles, having worked for Lion, Diageo and now Suntory Oceania. In his current role as Head of Route to Market Transformation Australia, Warwick is responsible for creating the systems, processes, capabilities as well as recruiting and building a high performing team to execute category and customer centric plans. With a strong pedigree of achievement in leading large and complex teams, Warwick is passionate about creating an environment for individuals and teams to develop and prosper as well as a driving a strong partnership focus with customers and industry bodies.

Suntory Oceania
Mitchell Lenaghan

Director, Licensed

Mitch is currently the Director, Licensed at CCEP leading a sales team that are responsible for managing all Key Account customers within the Licensed and associated industries in Australia. Mitch has a deep knowledge of the industry, customers, shopper trends and market dynamics which began forming back in the late 1990’s working in pubs in Queensland. Joining CCEP in 2002, Mitch has worked across all sales channels in a combination of both customer and leadership roles which provide him with broad experience and understanding of the Australian market. Mitch has a strong passion for developing people, working with customers for mutual growth and bring to market ‘only Coke can do’ experiences for consumers.

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners