Disaronno owner Illva Saronno has promoted internally to fill the newly-created position of chief commercial officer.
The role, which covers the Italian company’s entire presence worldwide, has been allotted to Robert Cullins (below), the current executive VP for the Americas & CEO of Disaronno International. Cullins’ career in beverage alcohol dates back to 1992, when he joined Diageo, before heading to Southern Wine & Spirits in Miami six years later.
Among his roles over the subsequent 28 years have been CEO of Stoli Group (from 2011 to 2015) and regional and then managing director at Gruppo Montenegro (2018 to 2022). He joined Disaronno in early 2022 as the international head before also taking on the CEO role at Sagamore Spirit when Saronno acquired majority control of the American whiskey business in September 2023.
Cullins will continue as head of international operations, based out of Sagamore’s offices in Baltimore in the US, while also taking on the additional commercial responsibilities.
“This new role will enable Illva Saronno to address more effectively the increasingly demanding global challenges as well as the ever-growing portfolio of the group following the announcement of the acquisition of Averna and Zedda Piras from Campari Group,” the company said.
Privately-owned Saronno spent in the region of EUR100m (then-US$117.3m) on the two Italian liqueurs at the end of last year.
“Over the years, the group has reached significant scale thanks to both organic and inorganic growth: an annual consolidated turnover of approximately EUR400m, a workforce of more than 800 employees and a presence in more than 160 countries,” Saronno added. “The international dimension of the group … remains a cornerstone, with over 90% of its revenues generated in foreign markets.”
In mid-2023, Marco Ferrari, who also formerly worked for Stoli Group and Gruppo Montenegro, was recruited as Saronno’s CEO.
