Frucor Beverages has appointed Kevin Bowler to run the New Zealand business.

Jonathan Moss, Group Chief Executive, had this to say regarding the appointment:

I’m absolutely delighted to announce the appointment of Kevin Bowler to the position of CEO New Zealand.

Kevin joins Frucor with very broad and senior business leadership experience from a diverse range of industries including consumer packaged goods, telecommunications, and media brands, in both New Zealand and internationally. Most recently Kevin was Chief Executive of Tourism New Zealand, which he joined in 2010 and has led to great success, increasing staff engagement and visitor numbers and spend for New Zealand. Prior to this Kevin was CEO of Yahoo! and before that General Manager Consumer Marketing for Telecom.

Raised in Hamilton, Kevin went to Hillcrest High School and Waikato University, where he did a Bachelor of Management Studies. He is also a graduate of the Stanford Executive Programme in the USA in 2013.

Kevin started his career in Wellington, working for Unilever in marketing roles and then for advertising agencies in Auckland before moving overseas where he worked for the big baking conglomerate Rank Hovis McDougall. Returning to New Zealand, he worked for New Zealand Dairy Foods, initially as General Manager Marketing and then as General Manager of their Beverage business unit.

In finding a new leader for our NZ business, our brief was all about our “Hunger for Making Drinks Better”. Kevin is a fantastic fit for Frucor and our purpose, and I am thrilled he is joining Frucor.