The Zamora Company, owner of popular premium wine and spirits brands including Licor 43, Yellow Rose Whiskey, Martin Miller’s Gin, and Ramón Bilbao wines, has announced that Matt Appleby has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of its Dallas, TX- based U.S. business cluster Zamora Company USA, succeeding Bill Corbett who retired as CEO and is now serving in a senior advisor role through September 2023.
“Few companies in this competitive industry have grown as fast and as successfully as Zamora Company USA, and that’s a testament not only to our talented team and our world-class wine and spirits brands, but also to the vision and leadership of the Zamora Family who understood the opportunity and the importance of creating a U.S.-based business cluster here five years ago,” says Appleby.
“I’m proud and honored to step into this role and take on the privilege of leading and building this organization into a top-20 wine and spirits supplier in the U.S.”
Matt Appleby, who joined Zamora Company USA in 2019 as Marketing Director, has been functioning as the Spanish company’s interim U.S. CEO since November 2022 and will now assume full responsibility in the role, reporting to Javier Pijoan, CEO at Zamora Company, which is headquartered in Madrid. During his tenure at Zamora Company USA, Appleby has helped the organization increase net sales by +56% and total volume by +37%. The company’s flagship Licor 43 Spanish liqueur brand posted volume growth of +140% in the U.S. from 2018 to 2022.
Prior to Zamora Company USA, Appleby spent more than 20 years in senior management roles in sales and marketing at Rebecca Creek Distillery, Remy Cointreau USA, Brown-Forman, Pernod-Ricard, Red Bull North America, and Glazer’s Distributors.
“The U.S. is a crucial market for Zamora Company, which we firmly believe could top 30% of our global business within the next several years,” says Pijoan. “Matt’s impressive experience and strategic expertise in this market, coupled with his ability to build and lead high-performing teams, will no doubt help continue to position Zamora Company USA as one of the premiere suppliers in this important market.”
