Stockholm August 22, 2008
New management team for The Absolut Company
The new management team for The Absolut Company has been announced. The Absolut Company is a company within the Pernod Ricard group and has worldwide responsibility for the production, marketing and commercial development of ABSOLUT VODKA.
The global head office for The Absolut Company is based in Stockholm. Production continues to be concentrated to Åhus in southern Sweden.
Ketil Eriksen is the new CEO of The Absolut Company. Ketil Eriksen has been President of the V&S Absolut Spirits business area since 2005. His previous appointments have included General Manager within Colgate-Palmolive.
“It’s an honor to continue to be entrusted with the leadership of ABSOLUT VODKA, and it feels like an acknowledgment that the strategy we followed in the past years has been a success. With an industrial owner like Pernod Ricard, and with access to their exceptional distribution network in 70 countries, we have all the prerequisites to continue our strong growth,” says Ketil Eriksen, CEO of The Absolut Company.
Other members of the management group include:
Matthias Aeppli, Vice President, Marketing. Matthias joined V&S Absolut Spirits in New York in 2004 as Vice President, Marketing for ABSOLUT on the important US market, and in 2007 was appointed Vice President, Global Marketing, for V&S Absolut Spirits.
Kicki Alm, Vice President, Human Resources. Kicki joined V&S Absolut Spirits in 2006 as HR Manager, responsible for Stockholm, Plymouth and Hong Kong, and was appointed Vice President, Human Resources in 2008. She has previously held the equivalent position at Scandinavian Airlines.
Krister Asplund, Vice President, Manufacturing. Krister joined V&S in 1982 and for the past ten years has been responsible for overseeing the production of ABSOLUT VODKA, Level Vodka, Plymouth Gin and Cruzan Rum.
Andreas Berggren, Vice President, Commercial. Andreas joined V&S Absolut Spirits in 1997 and has been responsible for V&S Absolut Spirits’ international activities outside the US since 2005. Andreas previously served as General Manager for SAS’s Russian operations.
Paula Eriksson, Vice President, Corporate Communications. Paula joined V&S in 2007. She previously served as External Relations Manager at Procter & Gamble in Scandinavia and Western Europe.
The management group is also supported by Stéphane Longuet, Vice President, Finance. Stéphane has worked with Pernod Ricard since 1998 and was most recently Chief Financial Officer at Pernod Ricard Italia.
Mikael Spångberg, Vice President, Legal Affairs. Mikael has been responsible for legal affairs at V&S since 1996. Before joining V&S he held a number of positions at patent agencies and law firms.
The Absolut Company was formerly V&S Absolut Spirits, a business area within V&S Group, which was acquired by Pernod Ricard from the Swedish state on July 24 of this year.
For additional information, please contact:
Paula Eriksson, Director, Corporate Communications, , +46 70-190 12 07