Wine company, Australian Vintage, has appointed Tom Dusseldorp as CEO, as Craig Garvin steps down. Dusseldorp joined the winemaker in 2022 as chief commercial officer and was responsible for marketing and brand strategies in the local and global markets.
Dusseldorp has more than 15 years leadership experience in food and beverage companies. He was with global drinks business Pernod Ricard for more than a decade, at Noumi he involved in the launch of MilkLab, and was part of the launch for food tech start-up All G Foods.
Australian Vintage chair, James Williamson, said, “We are fortunate to have an exceptional leadership team at Australian Vintage, and it’s very pleasing to have Tom step up as our CEO. Tom joined us in 2022 with strong leadership credentials.”
Williamson thanked Garvin for his work repositioning and stabilising the company after a “difficult 2024”.
“The board appreciates the transformational leadership Craig brought to Australian Vintage over many years. This started with Craig taking the company from a family business to a major player in the Australian wine industry,” Williamson said.
Garvin returned last year to support the board with a plan to stabilise the company. He was dismissed in May for “lack of judgement” and then reappointed in October after the entire board had been replaced.
2024 was a turbulent year for the winemaker – failed merger talks with Accolade Wines, having to revise its FY24 guidance from debts of $43-50 million to $70-75 million, and its market capitalisation almost halving after resuming trading from a trading halt taken to refinance its debt, and hold a heavily discounted capital raise.
“We are now better positioned as a result of his leadership, including having a clear succession plan in place,” Williamson said.
Garvin said it was time to “pass the baton” to the next generation.
“I came back to the company to support James and the board in setting a clear direction to restore shareholder value. I am very pleased to see our internal succession plan come to life with Tom’s appointment,” Garvin said.
Williamson said, “While we continue to navigate challenging market conditions, our strategy remains the same. With the reset of the business that has occurred since mid-2024, we are now better positioned to move faster to restore shareholder value.
“Tom’s commercial expertise and experience within the business mean he is ideally placed to succeed Craig and provide continuity in our strategy focused on cash flow and targeted growth.”
Dusseldorp said, “On the back of Craig’s leadership over recent months, we now have the opportunity to double down on our work to deliver sustainable positive cash flow through targeted investments in innovation and brands for accelerated revenue growth.
“Our objective is to manage capital efficiently and improve our ability to invest, manage risk and respond to opportunities as they arise through cost discipline.”
Dusseldorp started as CEO on 30 April.
