Bacardi's MD Vergara Bermuda Bound

Mauricio Vergara has been appointed President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of PATRÓN. He will leave his position in Sydney as Managing Director of Bacardi where he has worked for just a little over a year.

A seven-year Bacardi veteran, Vergara has a diverse background serving in leadership positions across marketing, commercial and general management in both mature and emerging markets.

“I am sad to leave Australia, a market in which I have had the chance to work with an exceptional team and brilliant customer partners, but at the same time I am very excited to keep working with the team here as Australia will continue to be one of the lead markets for PATRÓN around the world,” said Mr Vergara.

In his new role, Mr Vergara returns to the company’s global headquarters in Bermuda. He will also spend time in Switzerland at the PATRÓN headquarters. A successor to the role of Australia’s and New Zealand’s Managing Director will be announced shortly.

Mr Vergara has served as Managing Director for Bacardi Australia and New Zealand, while also leading the international integration of PATRÓN following the acquisition of Patrón Spirits International AG and its PATRÓN® brand by Bacardi in 2018.

Mr Vergara will report to CEO Mahesh Madhavan and joins the company’s Global Leadership Team.

“Tequila is one of the fastest growing and most attractive categories in the spirits industry, and PATRÓN is the clear market leader in the super-premium space,” said Mr Madhavan.

“Mauricio is a highly collaborative and innovative leader with an impressive track record of success across multiple disciplines, brands and markets. In his new role, he will work closely with our regional leaders and brand and operations teams to accelerate growth in the well-established US market, while leading expansion internationally, in markets including Australia, where consumers and retail partners are starting to discover and love premium tequila.”

Since joining family-owned Bacardi in 2013, Mr Vergara’s career at Bacardi has spanned the globe from Mexico City to Miami to London to Sydney and Bermuda. His roles have included leading Bacardi and Grey Goose globally, managing commercial businesses in Latin America and in the US, and heading up global commercial and customer marketing teams.

“PATRÓN created the ultra-premium tequila market when it launched in 1989 and I am honoured to play a role driving growth of the category and the brand in new markets across the globe,” says Vergara. “Having grown up in Mexico, this is an especially exciting opportunity with a brand I have long loved and admired for its authenticity, quality and integrity. PATRÓN is ‘simply perfect’ – a tequila that remains hand crafted and committed to perfection every step of the way.”