Scotch whisky boss leaves William Grant & Sons to pursue US cannabis market

William Grant & Son’s global head of strategy Victor Jerez has left his position at the Scotch whisky giant to pursue opportunities in the US’ fledgeling legal cannabis market.

Former William Grant & Sons strategy boss Victor Jerez joins a string of drinks executives exploring the crossover between the US’ alcohol and cannabis industries.

Jerez, who led the corporate strategy team at Pernod Ricard SA before he was snapped up by WG&S in 2017, resigned from his post with the drinks giant effective August 31, and appears to be making moves into cannabis.

Jerez is currently attending a conference The Westin Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, run by investor Arciew Group, which provides funding for cannabis related businesses and projects through its network of investor members.

The former drinks executive is set to speak at the conference on Tuesday, exploring the “convergence of alcohol and cannabis,” according to Bloomberg.

“Now’s the time to jump in as regulatory pressures ease.”

Also set to attend the forum is Patrick Rea, managing director of Canopy, a seed-stage, mentor-driven business accelerator focused on cannabis products and services.

Edibles — including non-alcoholic wine and beers infused with psychoactive compound THC — form a small but fast-growing portion of the burgeoning cannabis market in the US.

Californian brewery Lagunitas launched a product of its own in the sub-category with Hi-Fi Hops, an “IPA-inspired, THC-infused sparkling water,” making parent company Heineken the first drinks giant to launched a legal cannabis drink in the US.

Jerez is not the first drinks executive to leave the mainstream industry to pursue cannabis. Kieth Villa, who is credited with creating Blue Moon beer, announced his retirement from US drinks giant Molson Coors in January after working at the firm for 32 years, has now launched Ceria, a company “dedicated to the creation of custom and cannabis-infused
non-alcoholic craft beer.”