OREANDA-NEWS. SPI Group, owner of Stolichnaya® Premium Vodka, announces the appointment of John Karem as North America Duty Free Director. In his new role, John will be responsible for SPI's duty free business in the region with a strong focus on Stolichnaya® Premium vodka and the ultra-luxury elit™ by Stolichnaya®.

“John's expertise in the travel retail space and spirits industry savvy, coupled with his extensive background in global business development and sales management will be a huge asset to our expanding duty free sector in North America,” said Jean-Philippe Aucher, Global Duty Free & Travel Retail Director.

John joins SPI Group from Bibo Mundi, where he served as Principal and specialized in identifying winery and distillery purchase opportunities, negotiating terms of sale, financial modeling and designing strategic solutions from white board to bottle to shelf. Prior to Bibo Mundi, John was director of global business development at Phillips Distilling Company. Before that, he was VP of brand development at Liquidity LLC, the creator of Pinky Vodka, the second-best-selling luxury vodka in London Heathrow Duty Free.

John will be based in Miami and report directly to Jean-Philippe Aucher.