Kono NZ LP, the Maori-owned food and beverage business based in Nelson, has announced it has created a new, unified group sales and marketing division out of personnel from within its various business units, which encompass wine, mussels, oysters, crayfish, apples, pears, kiwifruit and hops.
Mike Brown, who previously ran the wine division of the company, is now General Manager of Kono Group Sales & Marketing, and heads up a staff of 22, including four new positions currently being recruited, plus a recently established office in Shanghai. Bruce Taylor, Chief Winemaker, has become General Manager for Wine, while another key change is Tom Keefe, Sales Manager for Kono fruit, also takes on responsibility for sales of the group’s Annie’s fruitbars.
Don Everitt, CEO of Kono, says “the new structure best meets our strategy of delivering optimal service to our customers, and it better allows us to tell the unique story of our food basket to the world.”
