Kristy Ryan, William Grants & Sons

KRISTY RYAN Head of Sales, Australia WILLIAM GRANT & SONS AUSTRALIA

IT’S BEST TO ASK YOUR QUESTIONS OF KRISTY RYAN WITH A COFFEE IN REACH. SHE’S QUICK-WITTED, STRAIGHT DOWN THE LINE AND ISN’T AFRAID TO STICK TO HER GUNS.

William Grant’s vision to become one of the world’s great distillers started way back in 1887 as he and his extended family built the Glenfiddich Distillery by hand, brick by brick.

Six generations later, William Grant & Sons distributes brands to 200 markets and the company employs 2800 people internationally.

One of those is Kristy Ryan, head of sales for Australia. However, she didn’t rise to the top by resting on her laurels.

She was born and raised in Sydney and her introduction to the alcohol industry in 2008 was not through spirits but wine.

Her first day as the national account executive for Woolworths at Hardy Wine Company would teach her to stay fast on her feet to succeed. Just 24 hours later, Hardy’s became Constellation Wines, reflective of the industry’s ever-changing nature.

Ryan held onto Woolworths when she took a position with William Grant & Sons as national account manager two years later before taking on a role within William Grant & Sons global travel retail business in 2012, which could take her beyond the limits of Australia - reporting into Singapore and looking after Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific & Thailand.

For a short six months after 4 years and a half of eye-opening travel, Ryan set her sights on a career change with Nestle, but William Grant & Sons’ general manager Colin Rochester had other plans for her.

“I was talking to Colin about coming back within three months of being at Nestle. You could say the lure of the industry pulled me back,” Ryan said.

“I think we are lucky to work in liquor. It’s got an art to it that you can’t experience in many other industries: the passion we have for our brands, the stories behind them, the fact that you can see where the ingredients come from, how they are produced, meet the makers and see the final product consumed in a bar or someone’s house.”

Ryan is described as a rising star in the Australian drinks industry and hangs her reputation on her customer-focused approach and results.

“My style has always been fast-paced and honest. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the only thing that has changed is the conversation, so I’ll be honest about what we’re experiencing with COVID-19 as much as I was pre-COVID-19 and will be after. As long as you’ve got trust with your partners you’re going to learn and win together,” Ryan said.

William Grant & Sons’ reputation as one of the world’s leading distillers opens many doors however, passion and knowledge of product is a key component of building trust in brands and the partnership you develop with the trade.

Thankfully, Ryan’s glass is truly full when it comes to both of those things and she can easily talk to the legacy and history of the company’s household whiskies while expressing enthusiasm for the newer, innovative spirits in the portfolio.

“I think we forget that in 1970’s, which wasn’t that long ago, single malts were innovative and Glenfiddich was at the center of that. Then in the 80’s, we were playing with cask finishes, another innovative space. So while we’re built on whisky, and that’s a fantastic reputation, we have always been at the forefront of pioneering and innovating,” Ryan said. “And being whisky specialists doesn’t stop us from going into other categories as we did with Hendrick’s Gin in the 90’s, then Sailor Jerry Rum.

“The good thing about William Grant & Sons as a family business is that we can innovate easily. We don’t have shareholders to report to and we’ve got the capital there to experiment with. Of course, not all innovation work, but I know the company is right behind it when we do launch something new. That history of successful innovation allows us to have authentic conversations and challenge the norm.”

The new norm in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic is fewer face-to-face meetings and less time in the office. However, despite facing a completely new way of working, Ryan remains optimistic.

“I’ll admit, the hardest thing for me and the sales team has been losing the best part of our jobs - getting out and seeing new things, whether it’s talking to a consumer, retailer or bartender or seeing different markets, you lose that ability to come up with new ideas. But COVID-19 has given us a new learning experience and taught us the ability to adapt and work as a team,” Ryan said.

“Our brand ambassadors have been concentrating on education people in a different way. Even in the retail world, while it’s open and booming, for every person inside the store there

is another outside, because of the restrictions on capacity. However, online education is booming at the moment and cocktails are going crazy because people are wanting to experiment at home, so our ambassadors have been pushing social campaigns. Meanwhile, they need to stay close and connected to the on-premise because it will re-open.”

William Grant & Sons has built strong onpremise relationships over the years with credit to its comprehensive brand ambassador program. However, Ryan is careful to keep one eye on retail while the other is on the on-premise.

“Our brand ambassadors do typically focus on the on-premise because we know that’s where a lot of people learn about whisky. But they’re also doing a great job with retailers because whisky is a tough category for anyone to navigate and I think we forget that our retailers need a bit of help with training their staff. So if we can help our partners by helping educate their staff and spending time in their stores educating their consumers, then it’s good for our industry and brands,” Ryan said.

When asked what Ryan thinks is next on the horizon, she could have easily run with the corporate line and rolled off William Grant & Sons’ latest plans, but instead, she was eager to talk about what’s going on more broadly.

“I think the emergence of local distilling is amazing and good for the industry. It’s really exciting to see. We’ve got talented people and great ingredients here,” Ryan said.

“Wine did an exceptional job with cellar doors and that’s why Australians love wine. Now we can bring more people into spirits through distilleries where people can touch, see and understand the product. I think more competition is better and let’s face it, right now we can’t fly people to the UK to visit our distilleries, so I’m grateful if more people can see a local one. It means more people coming into the category who will eventually explore our brands.”

But at the end of the day, the young gun likes to settle on a drop from what you could say is her new home away from home.

“If I had to pick one drink, it would be a boilermaker- a good stout paired with Balvenie 19-Year-Old!”