Campari Group’s MD for Europe, Patrick Piana, has expanded his sphere of responsibility at the brand owner.
Piana (below), who is two years away from his 30th anniversary in the alcohol industry, was promoted to oversee Europe at the start of last year, having joined the Aperol brand owner as head of commercial capabilities in mid-2021. The French executive posted on LinkedIn over the weekend that he is “starting a new position” as Europe, Middle East & Africa MD, although his profile states he commenced the larger regional role six months ago.
A company spokesperson confirmed the move to Global Drinks Intel today, noting the group had created the ‘EMEA’ region at the start of last year “to leverage synergies across markets and drive greater efficiency and alignment in our strategies”.
‘EMEA’ comprises a combination of Campari Group’s ‘Southern Europe, Middle East & Africa’ and ‘North Central & Eastern Europe’ reporting regions.
Having spent six years at Moët Hennessy and Diageo’s French JV in Paris at the turn of the century, Piana, headed to New York with the former in 2003. His six years in the city ended at Pernod Ricard, where he was senior VP of US marketing from 2007 to 2009, before returning to France to become CEO of the Rémy Martin cognac at Rémy Cointreau.
Having stepped down from the brand in 2014, Piana became North America CEO at Stoli Group, before heading to Fratelli Branca Distillerie in Milan in 2018, to spend almost four years as the Fernet-Branca owner’s CEO.
Campari, which is in the process of a structural review, finished off last week with news on Friday of the intended sale of brands Cinzano and Frattina to Caffo Group 1915.
