Frucor Beverages has announced the appointment of Jonathan Moss as Group CEO designate. Moss will replace Carl Bergstrom who retires in April after 15 years at Frucor. Moss will remain in his current role of CEO Frucor Australia until a suitable replacement is found. To maintain the business’s momentum and ensure a smooth transition, a new role of Frucor Executive Chairman has been created and Kuni Himeno has been appointed to this role. Current Frucor chairman Nobuhiro Torii will remain on the Frucor board.
Moss joined Frucor 10 years ago as the CEO of Frucor Australia. He brings more than 25 years consumer goods experience to the role, having held senior positions with Uncle Toby’s, Coca-Cola Amatil and the Australian Dairy Farmers Group prior to joining Frucor. Moss is actively involved in the broader Australian beverage industry, and has been President of the Australian Beverage Council since September 2013. Under his leadership Frucor Australia has grown consistently, with the business’s EBIT earnings doubling over the last 10 years.
Kuni Himeno re-joins the company from Frucor’s owner Japanese beverage and food company Suntory. He brings extensive knowledge and experience of Frucor, having been part of the company’s leadership team from 2009 to 2011. In 2011, Kuni was appointed Deputy COO of Suntory Liquor’s International Liquor Business where he initiated the project team responsible for Suntory’s acquisition of Beam. In 2014 he was appointed Senior General Manager, International Strategy Department of Suntory Holdings Limited (SHD), where he was in charge of the Beam integration into Suntory.
Carl Bergstrom has led the Frucor Group since May 2011. Prior to this he was CEO of Frucor New Zealand, a position he held since joining the company in 2000. Bergstrom has overseen the growth of Frucor from a local juice company to a more than $500 million international beverage business. In recent years Carl has led Frucor’s capital expansion programme, with support from Suntory. In 2013, Frucor announced a $45 million five-year innovation and technology investment programme, underpinned by a commitment to increase in-house capacity, grow jobs and drive quality. The first stage of this investment was the opening of the company’s semi-automated distribution centre and new high speed bottling line in 2013. In 2014, Frucor opened a $6 million new research and development hub in Manukau, developing products for New Zealand, Australia and international markets.
