Hinksman, who is still with Purity, will soon take on the role of head of customer marketing and insight, a new job that combines Westons' customer marketing, category management, consumer insight, trade activation and PoS teams.
The new cider boss has more than 30 years of experience in the sector – both with Bulmers and Heineken UK.
Heineken and Bulmers
At Heineken, Hinksman headed the on-trade customer marketing team and has also held on- and off-trade trading director roles within the company as well as at Bulmers.
Westons commercial director Geoff Bradman said: “We are delighted to bring Darryl on board at what is a very exciting time for us at Westons. We have had an extremely positive start to the year following our record sales last year, and our business is recording year-on-year growth this year.”
Last week, Bradman told The Morning Advertiser that the business had completely restructured to focus on premium and craft products, which were areas of substantial growth for the Herefordshire-based cider maker.
He added: “As the business has grown, we have recognised the need to bring together four previously separate teams, which will ensure consistency across everything we do, which will ultimately help drive further growth across the premium cider category we operate.”
New appointment
Hinksman was enthusiastic about his new appointment and said: “I am thrilled to be joining at such an exciting time and am looking forward to working with high-quality cider brands that offer a premium, authentic Herefordshire cider for every drinker.”
The appointment follows the launch of Westons’ first cider category report earlier this year, which showed rising cider sales in the on-trade.
According to the report, it is also cheaper to buy a pint of cider in the pub than at a shop. It also revealed the six types of drinking occasions operators should consider when implementing a cider offer.