Stoli® Adds Seasoned Strategist For Sub-Saharan Africa

NEW YORK, July 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Stoli Group, the leading global ultra-premium spirits and wines company, today announced the addition of John K'Otieno as Managing Director, Sub-Saharan Africa. The addition of K'Otieno is part of a strategic initiative to assemble a transformational team that will achieve ambitious growth plans at Stoli. In his role, K'Otieno will oversee and fulfill Stoli initiative to drive growth in this region.

"Our aggressive five-year growth goals require that we find top talent like John to lead us in the regions that they know and love," commented Damian McKinney, Global CEO of Stoli Group. "John is an exceptional strategist and marketer who brings to Stoli deep regional and domain expertise. He has worked across Africa, the U.S. and the U.K., at beverage and electronic companies, and cross functionally. We are thrilled to have attracted such an outstanding manager to spearhead Stoli efforts to drive growth in this critical market. "

With more than 16 years of experience working for Fortune 500 companies, K'Otieno has a proven track record of delivering results to global blue-chip companies including The Coca-Cola Company, General Electric, Diageo, and GP Strategies. Most recently, he served as Director of Business Planning, Performance and Insights at South & East Africa Business Unit, for The Coca-Cola Company where he led a competitive intelligence project which delivered actionable insights on key competitors in South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Zambia. While at The Coca-Cola Company, he served in a broad array of positions including Performance Director and Executive Assistant to the President of the Central, East & West Africa Business Unit, and Strategy and Business Pipeline Manager.

Previously, K'Otieno was Strategy & Growth Director for GE Power in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) based in Kenya where he led collaboration efforts with Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP) that saw GE develop a pipeline of over US$1Bn. He was also responsible for the GE Renewable market sizing initiative for SSA, which led to a strong pipeline of 20 projects (3.2 GW) across wind and solar power. Prior to that, K'Otieno was Senior Category Development Manager for Diageo Plc Kenya.  

"Working with Damian and the A-Team he has assembled, is a once in a career opportunity," commented John K'Otieno, Managing Director, Stoli SSA. "I am looking ahead to expanding markets, assisting in sustainability projects, and delivering value for employees, consumers and communities in the Sub-Saharan region."  

About Stoli ®️ Group
Stoli® Group was established in 2013 and is responsible for the production, management, and distribution of SPI's global spirits portfolio. Mainly known for the Stolichnaya® Vodka brand, Stoli Group has expanded its portfolio in recent years to appeal to premium on-premise and more sophisticated global consumers. Signature brands are: Stoli® Vodka, Elit™ Vodka, Bayou® Rum, Kentucky Owl®, Villa One™, Gator Bite™ Rum Liquers, Cenote™ Tequila, Kah™ Tequila and Se Busca™ Mezcal. With a presence across a network of more than 176 markets, Stoli Group works with a passionate team of 200 distributors around the world. Headquartered in Luxembourg, Stoli has production facilities in Russia, Latvia, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, and the United States some of which are steeped in history as early as the 1900s. For more information, visit stoli-group.com.

SOURCE Stoli Group