Japanese beverage giant Suntory is to transition into a “top-two” management structure, after appointing Nobuhiro Torii as president.
In an announcement today (12 December), the Maker’s Mark and Jim Beam brands owner said it would be promoting Torii, the company’s current executive vice president, into the new role from 25 March next year.
At the same time current president and CEO Takeshi Niinami will relinquish the president role and become chairman, while retaining his CEO duties.
Suntory, which runs its top shelf brands through its Suntory Global Spirits arm, said: “Under the new management structure, Nobu Torii will lead the entire Suntory Group worldwide, working closely with Tak Niinami.”
Niinami said: “I look forward to working closely with president Nobu Torii to pursue our shared ambition of becoming the first Japanese company to emerge as a truly global leader in consumer goods, taking Suntory Group to new heights.”
Torii added: “I will lead our organisation forward with conviction and purpose. I pledge to stand at the forefront of our 40,000 employees with a deep sense of ownership, consistently embracing bold challenges as we move forward.”
Niinami spent the first 20 years of his career at Mitsubishi Corporation, where he held a number of management positions and founded Sodex Corporation (now LEOC Co.), a hospital foodservice joint venture between Mitsubishi and Sodexo of France, ultimately taking the company public in 1999.
Torii is the great-grandson of Suntory’s founder, Shinjiro Torii.
He spent his first decade at Suntory in alcoholic beverage sales, and later spearheaded the company’s beer brand The Premium Malt’s. From 2008, he advanced Suntory’s global expansion through strategic acquisitions of beverage companies in Oceania and Europe.
Torii was the first president & CEO of Suntory Beverage & Food from 2011 to 2016, when he then stepped into the executive vice president position. He has also been president and CEO of the company's alcoholic beverages arm for Japan, Suntory Spirits Ltd., since 2017.
