Today, Stock’s premium vodka brand, Stock Prestige, was named the fastest growing vodka brand in the world in 2010 by Drinks International. This succeeds another of Stock’s brands, Czysta de Luxe, which was identified as the fastest growing brand in 2009.

Launched in September 2009, Stock Prestige, a premium Polish vodka made from high quality grain spirit, sold over 1 million 9 litre cases in 2010. Building on its initial success in Poland, Stock Prestige is now available in 15 countries worldwide and this is expected to increase as news of this success spreads to other parts of the world.

Czysta de Luxe once again featured strongly in the Millionaires overall rankings, moving up one place to 7th in the world after selling 6.4 million 9 litre cases in 2010. It also remains the youngest brand in the top 10 vodka brands worldwide. Two other SSG vodka brands put in strong showings in 2010 with Zoladkowa Gorzka and 1906 also featuring in the top 30 best-selling vodka brands in the world.

Beyond the vodka category, Stock Spirits Group had further success as their Lubelska vodka based liqueur grew sales by 150% in 2010 to enter the Millionaire rankings for the first time after selling 1.5 million 9 litre cases - making it the 6th best-selling liqueur in the world.

Commenting on the results, Chris Heath, Chief Executive Officer of Stock Spirits Group, said: “We are delighted to have secured the fastest growing vodka title for a second consecutive year and to now have four of our vodka brands in the Millionaire rankings. These results really demonstrate the strength of our portfolio and the continued success of our new product development programme. Our on-going investment in quality is clearly paying dividends and we will continue to find innovative ways to delight consumers in all of our core markets and beyond.”

Waldemar Maj joins as a Non-Executive Director and brings with him unrivalled experience in Polish banking, industry and government. In his most recent role as a founding partner at Metropolitan Capital Solutions Ltd., he has a strong track record of providing advice on M&A activity, IPOs and corporate finance matters to clients. Prior to this, he was CFO and Vice-President of PKN Orlen S.A. a Fortune 500 oil refining and marketing company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Waldemar is also currently on the Supervisory Board of PZU, Ciech, BGZ and TMS Brokers. He will serve as Chairman of Stock Spirits Group’s Audit Committee.

Waldemar’s banking career also includes being Vice-President in charge of Corporate Banking and the Treasury at Bank BGZ S.A/Rabobank and the President and CEO of DZ Bank Polska S.A. He also spent time at IFC/World Bank in Washington D.C. as a Senior Investment Officer.

Earlier in Waldemar’s career, he was McKinsey consultant and an Adviser to the Minister of Finance in Poland. He holds a MBA from Harvard and a Ph.D. in Physics. Waldemar is a Polish national.

Dominique Bach also joins the Board as a Non-Executive Director. Dominique has extensive experience in growing and developing large FMCGs. From 2003 – 2008, Dominique was President of Pepsico Foods in the CEE markets, where he led the significant growth of the business in the region. Dominique is currently on the board of Emmi Group.

Prior to this, Dominique held senior executive positions at leading international food and drink brands. In the late nineties, he was with Louis-Vuitton/Moet-Hennessy as President and CEO of Chandon Estates, and before this his experience includes being Managing Director of Masterfoods Sweden, Masterfoods France and a brand development role at Groupe Danone.

These appointments are with immediate effect. Stock Spirits continues to work with its adviser Credit Suisse to review a range of strategic options.

Referring to these appointments, Jack Keenan, Non-Executive Chairman said:

"I am delighted to announce the appointment of Waldemar and Dominique to the Board of the Stock Spirits – they both bring unrivalled and significantly relevant experience to the Group.

"Waldemar brings unique Polish banking advisory and market experience, and Dominique has a solid understanding and track record of growing strong brands in CEE markets.

"Their contribution which will prove invaluable as we continue to grow Stock Spirits and build on our position as Central Europe’s leading spirits and liqueurs group. They are both excellent additions to what is already a very strong Board and management team."

The panel of three independent judges awarded Magister a Silver award in the Herbs and Bitters category. Magister boasts a mixture of forty herbs and spices from all over the world which provides the liqueur with its unique taste and sparkling red-brown colour. Meanwhile, the high quality Czech liqueur Bozkov Peprmint, which has a distinctive mint flavour and aroma, also picked up a Silver award in the Traditional category.

Commenting on the wins Chris Heath, CEO of Stock Spirits Group said: “We are absolutely delighted to win these highly prestigious awards and believe that our success reflects the high quality of our brands. The Awards we feel particularly reflect Stock Spirits Group's position as Central Europe's leading spirits producer.”

SSG collected three Silver awards and a Bronze in the prestigious competition. Key Rum Cream received a Silver Best in Class award with the judges noting the liqueur’s “Rich heady aromas of chicory coffee essence and dark chocolate. Sumptuous bittersweet layering on the tongue coupled with warm rum flavours partner in a really sensational mix. Excellent balance of bitter and sweet nuances on a superb rum base.” 

Keglevich Fragola also picked up a Silver Best in Class award with the judges commenting “Ripe red strawberry colour. Intense lifted sweet ripe strawberry nose. Lovely balance of sweetness, flavour and spirit in the mouth. The palate is light and very fresh with a long excellent finish.” 

Bozkov Peprmint, a liqueur which retails in the Czech Republic also collected Silver, while Italian vodka Keglevich received a Bronze. 

IWSC was founded in 1969 and is the premier competition of its kind in the world. Liquids are put through a rigorous two-stage judging process of professional blind tasting and detailed technical (chemical and microbiological) analysis before being classified. 

Commenting on the wins, Chris Heath, CEO of Stock Spirits Group, said: “The fact that a wide cross-section of our brands have collected industry awards in blind tasting competitions in 2010 is hugely encouraging as we strive to offer our consumers high quality liquids. These latest wins, encompassing both the liqueurs and vodka categories, are particularly pleasing as we continue to pursue this strategy.”