US distilling company MGP Ingredients has hired four drinks industry veterans, in a bid to “accelerate growth”.
Announcing the appointments of Tom Neiheisel, Sol Clahane, Marilyn Chen and David Sanders yesterday (28 July), the company said the move aims to “strengthen its commercial and marketing excellence” in its Distilling Solutions and Branded Spirits segments as well as “the company as a whole”
Neiheisel has been appointed the group’s vice president of sales in its Distilling Solutions segment, which produces spirits for other businesses. It is a part of MGP that has felt a pressure on sales in recent quarters. In MGP’s second quarter results, released today (29 July), the group saw sales in Distilling Solutions tumble 42% year on year to $29.2m.
In its first quarter results, issued at the end of April, the same segment recorded a 40% drop in sales on the previous year, at $28m. Neiheisel has more than 20 years of “commercial and operational excellence”, MGP said. His background includes senior roles at Pernod Ricard’s US business, as well as at Diageo and Brown-Forman, in areas such as bulk sales, contract distillation and operations.