Lion Australia has appointed Warwick Parks as its new Sales Director, and Kerry Appathurai as its new Customer Solutions Director in a new sales leadership structure that the brewer says is designed to deliver the best experience for its customers.

Lion Australia Managing Director James Brindley said the remits of the two new roles were all about setting Lion up for the next decade, and driving future growth.

“In the newly formed Sales Director role, Warwick Parks will focus on engagement, execution and selling,” Brindley said.

“Warwick has deep experience leading large and complex teams. Over the last seventeen years he has worked across many parts of the Lion sales functions from the Endeavour Group to Independents and On Premise.  He has worked in Field Sales roles in NSW, VIC & TAS and since 2018 has held the Sales Strategy and Services Director role. 

“During these last two years Warwick has been driving our strategic sales projects focused on driving a better experience for our customers and Lion.  Warwick has a strong history in being open to and actioning new ideas and concepts and with his wealth of experience and strong team engagement, I know we are setting up the future direction of Sales with the right focus for sustained success.”

As Customer Solutions Director, Kerry Appathurai will focus on maximising the SAP platform, the associated technology and broader capability around category development and channel plans.

“Kerry has been with Lion for two and a half years as the Customer Director for Endeavour Drinks and has demonstrated great passion and expertise for people, results and customer partnerships to deliver strong results over this time,” Brindley said.

“Kerry has over 20 years’ experience in FMCG across both the retail and supplier landscape including senior roles in Parmalat and Nestle and brings a strong customer lens and experience in category and channel strategy. This experience and Kerry’s personal attributes of challenging the status quo, can-do attitude and winning through strong collaboration will set her up for great success leading the Customer Solutions team.”

Lion appoints Consumer & Brand Director

Bega gets the keys to Lion Dairy & Drinks

The news follows Bega Cheese officially taking ownership of the Lion Dairy and Drinks business last month.

The acquisition of the Lion stable of brands – which include Dairy Farmers, Yoplait, Big M, Masters and Farmers Union iced coffee – more than doubled the size of Bega.

This week Bega announced it would increase their milk price by 10 cents per kgMS for its Victoriam, south-east South Australian and Bega Valley central suppliers.

In a statement Bega said the increase was reflective of the level of market improvement being experienced despite the COVID-19 and higher currency impacts locally and internationally.

“The increase reflects Bega’s continued position to ensure its milk price are competitive with other dairy processors in the various regions it operates,” the company said.

In a letter to suppliers Bega Cheese chairman Barry Irvin said the company was “very optimistic” about future opportunities following the acquisition of the Lion Dairy and Drinks business.