Departing Ölgerðin After 17 Years
I have stepped down from my position at Ölgerðin after nearly 17 years as Deputy CEO and CMO. It has been an amazing journey during an incredible period of growth for the company. Ölgerðin's brands have steadily strengthened, and the company's market share in beverages has grown significantly since I started working there. I have had the opportunity to work with well-known brands of Ölgerðin and build new brands from scratch. The most notable of these is the brand COLLAB, which is one of the most valuable beverage brands in Iceland today.
Since last year, I have led the marketing and sales of COLLAB in foreign markets, achieving the result that today nearly 1,000 stores in the Nordic countries offer the popular COLLAB drink, and the distribution is increasing. It is right to correct a misunderstanding that appeared in the media, suggesting that my departure from Ölgerðin is related to this project and the company's quarterly financial report. That is not true; the project is on a good path, and I look forward to following its progress.
Looking back, what stands out is that Ölgerðin's beer market share has doubled during my time at Ölgerðin, and the company now holds a 57% share in soft drinks compared to 47% when I started. It has been a privilege to work with some of the world's largest food and speciality companies. First and foremost, Pepsico, where I have worked on building their brands here in Iceland from my first day at Ölgerðin. Pepsico's brands have steadily strengthened in the market, and the collaboration with them has given me so much. One of the most memorable projects I worked on with Pepsico is, of course, the Pepsi league, the longest brand collaboration with the top men's and women's football leagues in Iceland.
The Carlsberg group is another great company I worked closely with for a long time during my tenure at Ölgerðin. One of the best marketing companies in the beverage market, I learned a lot from them. Then there are all the other partner companies like Diageo, Campari, JDE, L'Oréal, Britvic, Jägermeister, Moët and so many others, which have given me extensive knowledge and experience.
As Deputy CEO, I was responsible for Ölgerðin's own brands, with the goal of increasing their share of the company's turnover. During the time I held that responsibility, the share of own brands in the company's total contribution increased from 45% to 49%. The total turnover of own brands during the period increased by 62%. These growth figures are unprecedented for such an established company.
I have been fortunate to have worked with wonderful and talented colleagues who have shared this journey with me, and for that, I am very grateful.
The reason for my departure from Ölgerðin is a differing vision and disagreement between me and the CEO of Ölgerðin. It is unfortunate, but during the years we worked together, the collaboration was good, and together we achieved excellent results.