He takes over from Emilio Restoy, who will continue to be linked to the company as a member of the Board of Directors
Zamora Company, a global premium wine and spirits company, has appointed Javier Pijoan as the group’s new CEO. His appointment entails placing the executive General Management of the company in a prestigious professional who does not belong to the family that owns Zamora Company. With more than 25 years of national and international experience in food, beverage and distribution companies, Pijoan takes over from Emilio Restoy, CEO for the last 11 years, who will continue to be linked to the company as a member of the Board of Directors.
Javier Pijoan has extensive experience in the consumer goods and retail sector. He has worked for Heineken for more than 18 years, where he has been a member of the International Executive Committee in Europe and General Manager of Heineken’s SIH in Spain, among other positions. He also held the position of CEO at Bacardi Limited in Iberia for more than three years. Previously, he worked at the Carrefour Group and at Idom International Engineering. He currently served Grupo Varma and Winche Redes Comerciales as a director.
Pijoan has a degree in Business Administration, an MBA from IE Business School, a PDG from IESE and has several executive programs in Strategy and Execution from Harvard Business School. His career is marked by an inclusive leadership in transformation processes in the food, beverage and distribution industries. He has an executive, strategic profile, interested in team building, talent development and brand building to achieve outstanding results.
Boosting the professionalization of the growth strategy
The president of Zamora Company, José María de Santiago, explains that the incorporation of Javier Pijoan «is a very relevant step to promote our next strategic plan and reinforce the internationalization and digitalization processes initiated by the company in the previous plan. It is a commitment to a professional executive management, while the family will continue to watch over the group’s interests from the Board of Directors, as it has been doing in its 75-year history.”
For Javier Pijoan, “it is a pride to assume the leadership of one of the leading international companies in the premium wine and spirits sector. Aligned with its values as a sustainable company, I am grateful for the trust of the owner family and I take on the challenge with the illusion of reaping the greatest successes of the legacy achieved in these 75 years of work. I am convinced that we will achieve our goals thanks to the fantastic team of professionals that the company has around the world so that our consumers continue to enjoy every moment with our brands.”
Pijoan heads the company with a portfolio of 12 own brands, marketed in more than 70 countries, 10 production plants (Spain, United States, Italy), with a 50% presence in the international market and another 50% in the national market. In 2020, the company closed the year with a turnover of more than 172 million euros. The group employs more than 500 professionals directly, the majority (86%) in national companies and the rest (14%) in international companies.