Campari Group has hired former William Grant & Sons boss Simon Hunt to be its new CEO.
The Aperol and Courvoisier brand owner is to elect Hunt to lead the spirits giant from 15 January next year, it announced today.
Hunt, a 30-year industry veteran, will succeed interim co-CEOs, Paolo Marchesini and Fabio Di Fede, who have been overseeing operations since the shock departure of Matteo Fantacchiotti after just five months in September.
He began his career at Diageo, holding various managerial positions in global and local marketing and sales. He joined Allied Domecq in 2000, before moving to Pernod Ricard in 2005 to become CEO and president of Malibu-Kahlúa International.
In a 14-year career with William Grant & Sons, Hunt rose through the ranks with stints as president and managing director of its business in North America, as well as chief commercial officer, prior to serving as its CEO from 2016 to 2020.
After leaving the Hendrick’s brand owner, Hunt occupied various strategic advisory and board roles at major spirits producers, before being appointed CEO at Campari-owned spirits incubator Catalyst Spirits in 2022. Catalyst is presently in the process of being wound down.
“I am confident that Simon’s background, personality, energy, leadership and drive will take Campari Group to new heights as we continue to execute our growth strategy,” said Campari Group chairman Luca Garavoglia.
Hunt added: “I have always held Campari Group in the highest regard for its unique history, strong portfolio of iconic brands, company culture, and continuous outperformance and stellar growth story.
“I am honoured and excited to take on this extraordinary opportunity and I look forward to working with Campari Group’s talented leadership team and organisation to continue to build on the company’s heritage and success.”
Jefferies analyst Ed Mundy gave a thumbs-up to the appointment, calling Hunt “a strong hire”.
“It ends the period of uncertainty following the stepping down of prior CEO in September after five months in the seat, and brings over an industry insider who is well-known to Campari,” he said. “With a CV that is strong on brand-building, innovation, brown spirits and navigating strong family stakeholders, this will be an asset for the role at Campari.”
Like many other global spirits majors, Campari has seen post-pandemic growth tail off in recent quarters.
In the three months ended 30 September 2024, its net sales climbed 1.4% on a reported basis but declined 1.4% organically, in what was a large deviation from consensus forecasts of 9% growth. The miss caused shares in Campari to slide by more than 15%.
Campari cited personal reasons for the departure of Fantacchiotti in September, despite reports that the Wild Turkey distiller had lost faith in his leadership following a series of mis-steps.
Early in September, the company was forced to issue a clarification that comments made by Fantacchiotti in which he described the financial quarter as “still quite soft” were meant to be reflective of the industry at large, rather than specifically about its own performance.
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