About Rebecca Poynter

After extensive travel and work in the hospitality industry in New Zealand, the USA and Europe; advertising, marketing and chefs qualifications led Rebecca Poynter into a New Zealand based sales role with internationally recognised wine company Villa Maria Estate in 1995.

Growth within the company saw Rebecca appointed into one of Villa Maria’s first national account management roles in the FMCG channel, with responsibility for the Foodstuffs Group nationally along with ALM and key liquor retail groups. She then left Villa Maria for three years to develop her marketing skills. During this time she spent two years in trade marketing and marketing roles at Fosters’ International (NZ) followed by a year as a freelance contractor managing various marketing projects in sectors including hospitality, HR and IT. This experience out of the wine sector saw her realise that the wine industry was her passion and she returned to Villa Maria Estate in the role of Marketing Manager for their group of wineries; an Auckland based role she managed for two years.

Rebecca was then relocated to Australia by Villa Maria in 2005 where, from a Sydney base, she developed and managed two of the company’s key growth regions, Australia and Asia. This role involved extensive travel and, after four years Rebecca took the opportunity to move back into a winery based role and to gain general management skills, with her appointment as General Manager of Bimbadgen Estate.

Over the last six years Rebecca has had both strategic and “hands on” winery general management experience in the Hunter Valley and South Australia, focusing on maximising both the profitability and brand value of businesses in highly competitive market conditions. These roles included the development of strategic business plans, annual budgets, forecasts and full P&L responsibility. During this time she developed and oversaw the execution of the businesses’ trade marketing and marketing plans as well as the development and management of their distributor relationships in Australia, Asia, Europe and North America including significant in-market work.

Other capabilities include successful NPD launches, COGs projects, B to C and rebranding along with developing and mentoring teams and running major events. She is experienced in identifying the resource requirements of a business and in creating commercially viable structures which ensure the organisations human resources are aligned with these requirements. Experienced in the creation of E-Commerce solutions that include maximisation of internal resources through the smart use of technology, she can identify and project manage this within your business.

Rebecca’s senior management experience encompasses wine businesses with both family and offshore corporate ownership and she has represented these at industry conferences and events. She has created winery tourism strategies in both New Zealand and Australia and participated in tourism steering committees. Her experience also includes voluntary positions on industry associations such as Hunter Valley Wine Country Tourism of which she is a past president.

This varied industry experience ensures Rebecca is up to date with global industry trends and understands the realities and challenges wine businesses face in the current market environment. In developing strategy she believes in thinking outside the industry and looks for solutions that encompass not just industry trends but also greater global consumer and workforce trends, giving her the expertise to develop profitable strategies tailored to the individual business.

Contact Rebecca Poynter

Telephone: +61 (0) 408 413522
Email: rebecca.poynter@live.com
Skype: rebecca.poynter