Robert Foye joins Accolade Wines as COO

Following his abrupt departure from Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) in early 2019, Robert Foye recently joined Accolade Wines as COO.

The appointment news was announced by Accolade Wines today (21 February). Before joining Accolade Wines, Foye spent almost five years at TWE as COO and contributed to the important breakthrough in the Asian market.

Prior to that, he was the vice-president, Customer and Commercial Asia-Pacific for Coca-Cola.

Back in January 2019, Foye left TWE “due to a breach of TWE’s internal policies”, according to an official statement. In February 2019, his close associate Peter Dixon, the former managing director of Asia for TWE, also exited the company and joined Accolade Wines soon after as regional managing director, Asia.

This sparked a court case, reportedly on charges of intellectual property theft, with TWE trying to win back a AU$1.3 million bonus it paid had Dixon. The case was settled out of court.

Foye spent the intervening 10 months as a senior advisor at New York-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

In the announcement, the company also reported its upcoming plans in China, including the new marketing promotion for Hardys and Banrock Station, as well as the new vintage launches for Grant Burge and St Hallett.

As the F&B industry in China is still under the influence of Covid-19, Accolade said it expects beverage sales will remain at a low level. However, it remains optimistic about 2020 as it expects to see a rebound in business after the epidemic.

Accolade Wines was 100% acquired by US private equity firm the Carlyle Group for AU$1 billion in April 2018.