Tesco appoint Waverley buying director

Tesco has appointed Pierpaolo Petrassi as its new senior product development manager. He will begin his role with Tesco in October and joins the supermarket group from Waverley TBS where he was wine buying director.

Based in the UK, Petrassi will be responsible for selecting wines from Australia, New Zealand and Italy. He replaces Phil Reedman as senior product development manager for Australia and New Zealand; in addition he will select wines from Italy, with James Griswood assuming responsibility for Tesco’s South American portfolio. Petrassi is currently finalising the final stage of his MW, having passed all exams. On top of his work commitments, Petrassi was chairman of the Italian Wine Committee of the WSA for nearly ten years, and sits on the Wine Importers Panel of the WSTA.

Commenting on the appointment, Jason Godley, Tesco category manager for wines, said, “We are absolutely delighted that Pierpaolo has chosen to join us and be part of our wine team. He will further strengthen our already first-class buying team, bringing with him a great deal of experience and knowledge to add to the business. These are exciting times for the category at Tesco with the introduction of 370 new wines this Monday; with someone of Pierpaolo’s calibre on board, we look forward to further strengthening our wine offer for customers.”

 Patrick Schmitt, 08/08/07