Exporter Update Presenter biographies 23rd August 2018
Ricardo Goncalves – MC News presenter, business journalist, MC, speaker
Ricardo Goncalves presents SBS World News Australia is SBS Finance Editor and is the host of Small Business Secrets.
He has covered news globally, filing stories from the Middle-East, LA and New York's Ground Zero. While he has interviewed most of Australia's top CEOs, financial analysts and economists, building up a solid contact list in the process, he notes interviews with Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva and Virgin's Sir Richard Branson as most memorable. Prior to working with SBS, Ricardo has previously worked for WIN News Wollongong, Today Tonight, Sky News Business, Seven News, Sunrise, National Nine News, 2GB.
Andreas Clark Chief Executive Officer - Wine Australia
Andreas has led Wine Australia since its inception on 1 July 2014. Prior to that, he held a number of senior management roles with the former Wine Australia Corporation. Before joining the wine sector, Andreas served as a diplomat with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra and Brunei and has also worked as a lawyer in private practice and in-house with an ASX-listed company. He holds a Master of Laws from the Australian National University and Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) from Flinders University and is admitted to practice in South Australia. He has also completed a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia and the Authentic Leadership Program at Harvard University.
Stuart Barclay General Manager, Marketing – Wine Australia
Stuart joined Wine Australia in November 2014 and as General Manager, Marketing he has responsibility for Wine Australia promotional activities domestically and internationally. Stuart has more than 18 years’ experience in the wine sector in the UK and Australia, including 10 years’ experience managing buying, wine production, direct-to-consumer sales and marketing channels for the Cellarmasters Group and Woolworths Liquor Group.
Craig Page Executive Strategy Director, R/GA
Craig is the Executive Strategy Director at R/GA, a leading creative agency and agency of record for Wine Australia. A psychology graduate, the first half of his career was spent in London, where he worked on many award-winning campaigns and prestigious brands such as Jameson Whiskey, Kronenbourg, and Fosters. Since moving to Australia in 2009, Craig has worked at several leading Agencies including M&C Saatchi, Ogilvy, and Havas on notable campaigns for brands such as eBay, Virgin Mobile, and Ikea. He also spent three years working in Foxtel’s marketing team leading Digital Strategy. Craig is fascinated by the interaction between human behaviour and brand, and believes that company value is created through connected brand experiences across all touchpoints, whether they be marketing, product or service.
Peter Bailey Manager, Market Insights
Peter leads a team that keeps the Australian wine sector informed through the collection, presentation and dissemination of global wine sector insights. Peter joined Wine Australia as Senior Analyst in 2006 and was promoted to the senior management team in 2010. Prior to joining the wine sector he spent a decade in the Australian energy industry, his last role being Manager, Commercial Analysis at Origin Energy. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Economics and a Bachelor of Business (Honours EF) from University of South Australia and has also completed a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia.
Cassandra Winzenried Chief Economist, Efic
As Efic's Chief Economist, Cassandra is responsible for providing country risk assessments in support of business transactions and undertaking broader economic analysis on political, economic and regulatory developments affecting Australian exporters and investors abroad. Before joining Efic, Cassandra worked for the Centre for International Economics and the Commonwealth Treasury. Her experience spans public policy analysis, economic forecasting, economic impact evaluation and regulatory review, investment feasibility studies and country risk assessment. Cassandra holds a combined Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a
Wine Australia for Australian Wine Masters of Government and Commercial Law from the Australian National University.
Rodney Sammut Wine Intelligence – Country Manager, Australia and New Zealand
Rodney Sammut is a seasoned wine insights and wine marketing specialist and has a deep understanding of what makes consumers tick when it comes to their wine choices; from the grape to the wine glass and everything in between. He is currently Country Manager for Wine Intelligence in Australia and New Zealand and has 20 plus years of experience in the world of wine having previously held senior positions across insights and marketing in Endeavour Drinks Group, Southcorp, Fosters and McWilliams Wines. As well as his passion for wine, Rodney is also a fanatic of chilli and hot sauce and he is the founder of Australia’s only Hot Sauce Subscription Club called ChilliBOM
Simon Wang Chief Operating Officer, ASC Fine Wines
Simon Wang is the Chief Operating Officer of ASC Fine Wines – one of the leading fine wine importer & distributors in Greater China with Rmb 1Bn annual turnover and over 110 brands. Simon leads all the daily operations with 800 staff in 12 branches and 4 regional offices across Greater China (Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China)/. Responsibilities include Sales, Marketing, HR, Logistics & Warehousing and Finance. He has also established ASC as a major E-Commerce player in the imported wine market Prior to this role, Simon was VP Sales, and President of the Wine Gallery at ASC (until 2012) and Chief Executive Officer of Kerry Wines China – part of Shangri-La Hotel Groups’ specialist wine company. Simon has also worked as Director of F&B at Shangri- La Hotels, and Group Director F&B for the Harbour Plaza Hotel and Resort in Beijing. Simon completed his MBA in 2016.
Scott Ni Senior Director from Alibaba Australia, New Zealand
An 18-year veteran with Alibaba Group, Scott Ni joined the company in April 2000 and has held key leadership roles in sales, marketing and marketplace operations. He spearheaded the globalization of Alibaba.com in India from 2008 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2014, he led the transformation of Taobao University, Alibaba's flagship training and development platform. Prior to his current role in Alibaba Australia and New Zealand office, Scott had worked in Alibaba Strategic Investment and led the integration of major M&As, including Lazada and Youku.
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Simon Henry Founder – UWAI.com
Simon is the Founder of UWAI.com, a simple tool to help local businesses reach the world's largest and most affluent tourist market, that of global Chinese visitors. Launched in South Australia as a world first in August 2017, UWAI is a platform comprising consumer facing apps, business facing engagement tools and sophisticated content distribution and management systems. The goals are to help more Chinese tourists spend more money with more local businesses, driving jobs, exports, local brand sales and education exports. The experience Simon gained from concept through to growth and ultimate exit with his previous company, places him as one of the few people with practical on the ground experience in building a global, cross border platform and one of the few people to have been able to “crack China”.
Rachel Triggs General Counsel – Wine Australia
Rachel delivers legal, risk management and strategic support across all business units and assumes responsibility for Wine Australia’s regulatory function including the management of the label integrity program and maintenance of the Register of Geographical Indications and Other Terms. Prior to joining Wine Australia, Rachel worked as a corporate lawyer specialising in wine law. Rachel has a Bachelor of Science (Jurisprudence) majoring in genetics and biochemistry, a Masters in Oenology and a Bachelor of Law (University of Adelaide), a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice, and a Diploma of European Wine Law (University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne). In 2014, she co-authored a wine law text book, Global Wine Regulation. Before completing her Law degree, Rachel worked as a winemaker in the Adelaide Hills, Clare Valley, Hunter Valley, Oregon and Tuscany.
Wine Australia for Australian Wine Viona Young Head of Global Wine Education – Wine Australia
With 20 years’ experience across business consulting, human resources, operational line management and non-executive directorship, Viona has worked across a number of large and small organisations and bodies such as Woolworths Limited, Wine Australia, Countdown and Travelex in industries including retail, sales, fitness, finance and manufacturing. Viona is pivotal in developing an education platform for Australian wine with the ultimate objective being to increase the perception of, and demand for Australian wine and wine tourism among overseas consumers and the overseas wine trade, with a focus on China and the USA.
David Lucas Regional General Manager, North Asia
David Lucas, is Wine Australia’s recently appointed Regional General Manager, China. David has spent the past 20 years in Asia and has significant experience within the wine and spirits categories across North Asia. David has undertaken multiple roles for ASC Fine Wines, one of the largest importers and distributors of Australian wines in China, including Vice President Sales, and thus has a deep understanding of Chinese channel management. Prior to ASC Fine Wines, David spent many years at Bacardi and Allied Domecq developing spirits markets. David leads the Wine Australia team in China, endeavouring to create opportunities for Australian wineries and brands and strengthen the growth and popularity of Australian wine in the market.
Aaron Ridgway Regional General Manager, the Americas
Aaron Ridgway has worked in the wine sector for 16 years, in roles as varied as cellar door sales (Clonakilla), retail sales (Market Cellars, Camperdown Cellars), education and guided tours (Kamberra Winery) and, since 2010, in sales and distribution in the US. Aaron co-founded the Fine Wine Agency in March 2010 before taking on a senior sales role at Langdon Shiverick Imports in 2011. Prior to joining Wine Australia in July 2016, Aaron spent four and a half years with Negociants USA, first as a region manager based in New York, and then as National Sales Manager based in California.
Wine Australia for Australian Wine In his role as Head of Market, the Americas, Aaron is focused on raising the awareness and appreciation of Australia’s finest wines and regions among the key wine trade and sommeliers. Aaron graduated from the Australian National University with a Bachelor of Arts (Film, French) in 2007. He won the ANU film prize twice and received a scholarship to study abroad at Sciences-Po in Paris (2006–07) and he worked as a journalist at the Canberra Times from 2008–10.
Laura Jewell MW Regional General Manager, EMEA
With close to 25 years’ experience in the sector and a Master of Wine qualification attained in 1997, Jewell brings significant commercial experience complemented by in-depth wine knowledge to her role as Wine Australia’s Head of Market, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Prior to joining Wine Australia in February 2015, Laura was the Category Product Development Manager – Wine at Tesco. Laura was also Chair of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust and was crowned Woman of the Year at the Drinks Business Awards in 2013. It was early on in Laura’s wine career, where she worked closely with global markets for an importer and several supermarket giants, that Australian wine captured her attention. Since Laura’s first visit to Australia in the early 1990s for her MW dissertation research, her love for Australian wine was born, priming her for a leadership role with Wine Australia where she drives our efforts to maintain market share in the UK, remain competitive and drive commercial opportunities for our fine wines throughout the EMEA region. Since joining the team Laura has been a passionate advocate of the innovation and quality of Australia’s premium wines and the diversity of our 65 unique regions.
Wine Australia for Australian Wine Brett Murphy General Manager, Export and Regional Wine Support Package and IT
Brett joined Wine Australia in 2017 and is responsible for managing the delivery of the $50 million Export and Regional Wine Support Package. Brett’s area of expertise is portfolio, program and project management. Brett spent 13 years in the Australian energy industry prior to joining the wine sector, working for APA Group and Electra Net. His roles involved managing the governance and delivery teams for a range of significant infrastructure, business transformation and IT programs. Brett holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Information Systems from the University of South Australia and a Graduate Diploma in Commerce from the same institution. He is a member of the Australian Institute of Project Management.
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