THE Belfast woman credited with the success of new Guinness brand Hop House 13 has won a major industry award for the role she played in its launch.
Niki MacCorquodale, Diageo's innovation marketing manager for Europe, won the influential Diageo Europe President's Club 2015 competition for her leadership role in the high profile campaign.
Named after an early 1900s hop store building at the St James's Gate stronghold - where hops are still stored in Dublin today - Hop House 13 was introduced earlier this year in what was one of the most successful beer launches in Ireland in decades.
Chris Lock, head of Europe innovation at Guinness owners Diageo, said Niki had been central to the project and had "made it her own".
For the former Magherafelt woman, heading up the project was a labour of love - and a chance to share a "new energy" emerging in the beer industry.
"There’s a completely new energy in the beer market, fuelling recovery, renewed interest and most importantly growth," said Niki, who beat off stiff competition from 15 other contenders across western Europe.
"The explosion of new beers on the market means more new and willing people than ever are interested in drinking beer. We welcome this renewed interest - it is great news for everyone in the beer business."
Now based in the brewery in Dublin, Niki joined Diageo in 2012 and worked in London for 18 months before moving home to Ireland last year.
"Working in Diageo’s innovation team makes me feel like an entrepreneur in a start-up business, with the support of the biggest brand in the drinks’ industry," she added.
"The Hop House 13 venture had an ambitious time-frame but the company ensured we had the right people, investment and focus to make it a great success.
"When you feel like something is your baby, then you really care about how it's doing. You get obsessed with the details, meet any issues head-on, work to motivate people and want to do nice things for them when you all achieve something great.
"Where I am in the development process dictates what my week looks like. I could be organising ideation workshops, attending consumer groups, reviewing packaging designs, presenting to customers - or be in the pilot brewery tasting our brewers’ latest creations, which is a definite highlight of the job."
Diageo's beer business is now worth more than £7 billion according to a report published in the Daily Telegraph in October.
The article included speculation by analysts that the drinks company could sell its beer business for more than that amount following several consolidation deals within the industry, including Anheuser-Busch InBev's £68 billion takeover of Peroni and Foster’s owner SABMiller.
Analysts suggested Diageo, the FTSE 100 drinks giant that makes most of its profits from spirits, could also join the fray by offloading its beer assets which include Ireland’s famous Guinness, Smithwick’s ale, Kilkenny and a range of brands popular across Africa.
Recent disposals by the company include the sale of the majority of its wine business to Australia’s Treasury Wine Estates and offloading the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland which was said to have a price tag of more than £200m.
