Heineken’s man in the U.S. departs
It was a brief spell of three years at the helm. Massimo von Wunster, Regional President, Heineken Americas, has decided to leave Heineken and return to his home country Italy.
Effective of 1 October 2008, Massimo von Wunster will be succeeded by John Nicolson, formerly Scottish & Newcastle plc Managing Director Eastern Europe, Asia & USA. In his new role, John Nicolson will be based in New York City and will sit on Heineken’s Executive Committee reporting to Jean-François van Boxmeer, Chief Executive Officer.
The announcement comes just days after Heineken reported half year results 2008 which saw shipments to the U.S. drop 2.4 percent even with the continued strong growth of the FEMSA beer brands in the U.S. Sales of Heineken were up in central USA and on the west coast, but "it was lower in the east," Heineken admitted. To add to Heineken’s woes, Heineken Premium Light, which was launched with a huge marketing budget, has nearly stalled in its third year. Yet Heineken praised that it "outgrew the light beer category," notes Beer Marketers Insights, a trade publication, with some surprise.
Amstel Light continued its downward trend, losing 12 percent over the previous year, more than offsetting Heineken Premium Light’s gain. That cannot have pleased Mr von Wunster’s masters in the Netherlands.
Moreover, Heineken’s revenue in the Americas declined 7 percent while EBIT beia (before exceptional items and amortization) dropped 8 percent to EUR 109 million "mainly due to the devaluation of the US dollar," says Heineken.
As is custom, Jean-François van Boxmeer, commented on Mr von Wunster’s departure by saying "I would like to thank Massimo for his valuable and considerable contribution to the growth of our brands and our business, first in Italy and, over the last three years, in the Americas. In particular, Massimo has developed and solidified the relationships with our partners FEMSA and CCU, and has grown the Heineken brand consistently across the region."
"The transparent way that Massimo has handled the change has allowed us to make a smooth transition and handover to John. I wish Massimo all the best for his future career."
