Melbourne whisky distillery Starward has announced its new CEO, Simon Marton and expansion plans for 2020.
Marton was global CMO at Treasury Wine Estates and has worked in the wine and spirits industry for more than 20 years. He said he was excited to join Starward at such a "pivotal time when the Australian spirits category is going from strength to strength both in the domestic and international markets".
The company had expanded into the UK, US, France and Japan this year, and riding off that success and growing demand announced it would "significantly" expand production in the first half of 2020 with a multi-million-dollar investment.
Founder David Vitale, now based in the US, said: “It’s hard to believe it was just three years ago we completed our monumental upgrade from Essendon Fields to Port Melbourne.
“Now, we are once again taking a huge leap to meet the rapidly growing, local and global, demand for our whiskies – particularly Two-Fold which has exceeded all of our sales expectations in our first year.”
This year, Two-Fold won Best Australian Blended at the World Whiskies Awards and 92 points from Wine Enthusiast and Whisky Cast in the US.
