Accolade Wines CEO Robert Foye has shared a heartfelt message with the drinks industry following his last official day with the company.

Foye took to LinkedIn to thank family, friends and colleagues for their support.

“I write this from a place of joy: leading Accolade has been a lifelong dream,” Foye said.

“Five years ago I started at Accolade. In the five years before I joined, five different CEOs led the Company. We were ranked last by our customers in Australia and the UK in the wine and alcohol categories – and we were losing market share.”

He outlined that his team set out to do three simple things:

1. Build a world-class global team that could lead in our markets and create a workplace where people wanted to be
2. Drive a relentless focus on our customers and consumers
3. Drive a supply chain that was industry leading from a customer standpoint.

“And boy, did we have an impact,” Foye continued. “We grew market share. We became the number 1 ranked supplier in wine and alcohol by our customers in the UK and Australia. We scored high on our employee engagement surveys and became a place that people wanted to join, work, and stay. We worked hard, we were focused, and we had fun when we could.

“We did face some serious challenges that impacted our business. COVID ravaged our supply chain/costs, China completely shut down imports of Australian wine, and Australia was hit with a wine glut.

“It was an intense, difficult and all-encompassing period – at times, I felt like a wartime CEO. But through it all, I am deeply grateful to the team for their unwavering commitment to overcome these challenges.

Our new shareowners have done an excellent job of arranging a merger with Pernod Ricard’s global wine business. The combined entity will be a stronger business and has a very bright future.”

As for his plans for the future, Foye said he was enjoying spending more time with his family and focusing on his health.

“I will most likely take on another CEO role when the right opportunity arises, but I will also teach an MBA class, write a few books, and dedicate time to mentoring,” he said.

“For those of you I worked with over the last five years inside and outside of Accolade, please contact me anytime. I am here and will always help anyway I can.”

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