Matteo Fantacchiotti has stepped down as CEO at Italy-based spirits major Campari Group after five months at the helm.
Fantacchiotti was only appointed to the role in April, being promoted from his position as managing director of the group’s Asia-Pacific leg.
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In a statement today (18 September), Campari said Fantacchiotti had left the business “due to personal reasons”. The company declined to comment further when approached by Just Drinks.
Chief financial and operating officer Paolo Marchesini and Fabio Di Fede, general counsel and business development officer, have been picked as interim co-CEOs.
They will also step in as executive members of a leadership transition committee, chaired by former CEO and now non-executive director Bob Kunze-Concewitz.
Together with a separate remuneration and appointment committee, they will lead the search for a new CEO.
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By GlobalDataCampari told Just Drinks that the search for a successor had already begun. It was unable to say when the recruitment process may conclude.
Commenting on his exit, Fantacchiotti said: “It has been a privilege for me to be part of Campari Group for almost five years and to lead this organisation since April 2024. While I have now taken the decision to leave, I express my deepest gratitude to all stakeholders, particularly the Chairman, the board of directors and the leadership team.”
The news comes just a day after Campari confirmed its purchase of a minority stake in Capevin Holdings Proprietary, the holding company of Bunnahabhain distiller CVH Spirits.
In today’s statement, Campari chairman Luca Garavoglia stressed: “Our growth ambition remains very strong. We have a very solid future ahead thanks to our robust organization, our global footprint, and particularly our unique portfolio made of some of the most admired brands in the spirits industry nurtured by a committed team of professionals.”
He added the company would “continue focusing on building our brands to keep on generating profitable growth and industry outperformance in the long run, as we have done since we went public in 2001”.
In the six months to 30 June, the Appleton Estate owner booked net sales of €1.52bn ($1.69bn), up 3.8% organically and 4.5% on a consolidated basis.
Gross profit was up 2.9% to €897.5m and 4.5% on an organic basis, while the group reported an adjusted EBITDA for the period of €418.8m, up 3.5% organically.
While many other spirits groups have seen sales decline in the US, Campari saw these grow 3.5% to €423.8m, driven by the group’s Espolòn, Aperol and Grand Marnier brands.
Asia Pacific sales dropped 10.7% organically in the period to €92.8m. Speaking to Just Drinks on the company’s first-half results earlier this year, Fantacchiotti said he expected the region to return to “double-digit growth” in H2.
He said: “Australia is turning around, China is done. It was more of a transition period but the fundamentals of Asia are still there. We expect that region to continue to grow double-digits for the foreseeable future and be a bigger part of our business.”
