Spirits brand owner and producer MGP Ingredients has confirmed the appointment of Julie Francis as its next CEO.
The development, announced by the Kansas-headquartered group today (21 July), brings to an end CFO Brandon Gall’s interim placement at the helm. Gall, who has held the reins since the start of this year, will make way for Francis (below) with immediate effect and retuirn to his financial responsibilities.
Francis joins the owner of brands including Ezra Brooks American whiskey and tequilas El Mayor and Juarez, having spent the last 12 months running her own advisory business based in Florida. Previously, she was COO at food company Schwan’s Co for three-and-a-half years.
Her career started at Coca-Cola European Partners (2004-2010) followed by five years with The Coca-Cola Co as CCO. In 2017-18, Francis spent 19 months working for Constellation Brands as senior VP of commercial & category development.
“Julie is a proven leader with decades of experience driving growth and value creation across the food and beverage space, making her the ideal candidate to lead MGP forward,” said company chair Martin Roper. “We are confident in her ability to advance our long-term vision of becoming a premier, branded spirits company, while building on the actions that Brandon and the MGP team have taken to better align our businesses with current consumer trends.”
As well as owning a stable of brands – through its acquisition of Luxco four years ago – MGP also produces spirits for brand owners at its distilleries in Indiana and Kentucky. The group will report its calendar Q2 and H1 results next week, on 31 July.
