Colangelo & Partners recruits ex-Amorim exec

New York drinks communications powerhouse Colangelo & Partners has added former Amorim Cork marketing head Carlos de Jesus to its ranks, Roger Morris reports.

Carlos de Jesus has joined the agency as partner and president of the newly created Colangelo & Partners Europe office as well as EVP of Colangelo & Partners, effective immediately, the company announced on Monday.

“Carlos adds industry knowledge, global PR expertise and a wealth of wine and spirits press and executive contacts to our agency,” said Gino Colangelo, president, Colangelo & Partners.

“These are challenging and dynamic times for the wine and spirits business. Adding new resources to help better serve our global and domestic clients as well as our team is critical to the continued growth and success of both our clients and our agency.”

For more than 20 years, de Jesus led the marketing and communications at global closures firm Amorim Cork. Before joining Amorim, de Jesus was partner at Breakstone & Ruth LLP, the New York-based leader in the international investor and shareholder relations market, where he worked with blue-chip multinationals to coordinate their presence on the NYSE and NASDAQ.

De Jesus will become the fourth partner in the Colangelo agency, which also has offices in San Francisco and Miami, joining Colangelo brothers Gino and Michael Colangelo (CFO) as well as COO Felipe Gonzalez-Gordon of Spain’s Gonzalez-Byass family.

“When Felipe joined four years ago, he brought valuable trade expertise in terms of route-to-market consultation, product development and value chain knowledge,” Colangelo said. “Now, with the deep PR background and communications expertise that Carlos brings, we’re strengthening our agency management and value offering even more.”

European wines and spirits

“European wines and spirits are a big part of the firm’s portfolio and complement our domestic clients,” de Jesus says. “Unlike many other wine and spirits PR agencies, Colangelo & Partners has a powerful domestic as well as an international team that speaks the languages of our European clients, literally and figuratively, and understands the unique wine and business cultures of each of the many countries where we have clients.”

Colangelo & Partners specialises in premium food, wine and spirits brands and has long-established relationships with the key press that drive these business categories and help determine the industry leaders.

The agency focuses on “closing the loop” between creative communications programs, distribution, promotion, publicity and the consumer.