Keg rental company Kegstar has appointed Coca-Cola Amatil’s Stephen Hopkins as its new General Manager for Australia and New Zealand.

Hopkins, who has over 20 years’ experience in the food and drinks industry, is an FMCG, liquor and licence veteran with a passion for hospitality.

He joins Kegstar with hands-on experience in start-up enterprises as well as many senior roles in big business during his time with Asahi Beverages and, most recently, as head of beer and cider with Coca-Cola Amatil.

Hopkins said: “Kegstar’s unique, individual and entrepreneurial culture is just what I wanted to be part of. Its relentless drive to get ‘more great beverages to more happy drinkers’ is pretty much what I’ve been doing my whole career, and something I’m delighted to lead.

“The drinks and hospitality industry is the backbone of our society, and having the opportunity to support it at Kegstar was an opportunity not to be missed.”

Christian Barden, Kegstar’s Chief Executive, said: “It’s been a blast getting to know Steve, who brings with him a wealth of knowledge, skills and fun. He has exactly the kind of customer, people and leadership experience our culture is founded on to help build a bigger, better Kegstar around the world for you and us.”

Hopkins will be key to the further development of overall customer experience through the various new resources and processes that have recently been launched. These include the “cents per scan” initiative, where Kegstar donates cash to the Pink Boots Society each time a customer scans one of its kegs, and Kegstar’s ongoing roll-out of its new IoT-enabled smart keg
tracking under “Project Starlight”.

Kegstar has also recently appointed Joel Beauchamp as Business Development Manager for the Australia team, working
under Nate Harper.

Steve said: “I’m really looking forward to leading the team and getting out into the action to meet, chat and learn from our customers, partners and industry friends, and to keep building
Kegstar the right way.”