Vintage Wine Estates Names Farzana Shubarna as Vice President of Operations

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Vintage Wine Estates, Inc. (Nasdaq: VWE and VWEWW) (“VWE” or the “Company”), one of the top wine producers in the U.S. with an industry leading direct-to-consumer platform, today announced the appointment of Farzana Shubarna in the newly created role of Vice President of Operations. Ms. Shubarna brings extensive international experience driving value creation from her strategic leadership roles in manufacturing, warehousing, sustainability programs and end-to-end supply chain operations for the fast-moving consumer goods and nutrition industries.

“VWE is strategically looking for the highest level of talent in the marketplace today,” said Zach Long, Chief Operations Officer, Vintage Wine Estates. “We believe we can fully leverage the expertise that Farzana is able to bring to our Company with her differentiated experience to drive increased efficiencies and best-in-class practices.”

“I am thrilled to join the Vintage Wine Estates team,” Ms. Shubarna said. “I believe my many years focused on production processes and supply chain best practices at multiple global industries can be applied at VWE to advance our efforts to improve productivity and cash generation. I look forward to working with the teams at the Hopland Facility in Hopland, California, ACE Cider in Sonoma County, California, and Meiers’ Wine Cellars in Cincinnati, Ohio to improve efficiencies and performance at these key production facilities for VWE.”

Ms. Shubarna previously served as Global Director, Center of Excellence for Unilever LTD, where she was responsible for strategic programs involving operational efficiency, digital transformation, and sustainability for Unilever’s network of contract manufacturing factories in Asia, the Americas and Europe.

Prior to her experience at Unilever LTD, Ms. Shubarna held roles as Group Supply Chain Director at DSM Nutritional Group; Group Supply Chain Director, Fragrance at International Flavors and Fragrances, Inc.; Regional Director of Logistics & 3PM, USA at L’Oreal USA; and Project Manager, Engineering Manager, and Maintenance Reliability Engineer at Anheuser Busch Inc., USA.

Ms. Shubarna earned her Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering with honors at Stevens Institute of Technology and her MBA in Finance at Rutgers University. She is multilingual, speaking fluent Hindi, Japanese and Bengali. She has also achieved Six Sigma Certification.

About Vintage Wine Estates, Inc.

Vintage Wine Estates is a family of wineries and wines whose singular focus is producing the best quality wines and incredible customer experiences with wineries throughout Napa, Sonoma, California’s Central Coast, Oregon, and Washington State. Since its founding 20 years ago, the Company has grown to be the 14th largest wine producer in the U.S., selling more than 2.2 million nine-liter equivalent cases annually. With approximately 40 brands, key focus brands include ACE Cider, Bar Dog, B.R. Cohn, Cameron Hughes, Cherry Pie, Firesteed, and Kunde, many of which have achieved critical acclaim. To consistently drive growth, the Company curates, creates, stewards, and markets its many brands and services to customers and end consumers via a balanced omni-channel strategy encompassing direct-to-consumer, wholesale, and private label and custom wine making services. While VWE is diverse across price points and varietals with brands ranging from $10 to $150 USD at retail, its primary focus is on the fastest growing luxury segment of the U.S. wine industry with the majority of brands selling in the range of $10 to $20 per bottle. The Company regularly posts updates and additional information at ir.vintagewineestates.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, “forward-looking statements”). Forward-looking statements are all statements other than those of historical fact, and generally may be identified by the use of words such as “believe” “looking” or other similar expressions that indicate future events or trends. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding VWE’s strategies related to hiring, the ability of Farzana Shubarna to drive increased efficiencies and best-in-class practices to the Company as Vice President of Operations, and the expect results and performance of Ms. Shubarna with the Company. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this news release, and on the current expectations of VWE’s management. These forward-looking statements are not intended to serve as, and should not be relied on by any investor as, a guarantee of actual performance or an assurance or definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and may differ materially from those contained in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of VWE. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, among others: risk that Ms. Shubarna does not perform in her role as Vice President of Operations as expected; the Company’s ability to recognize benefits from any organization restructuring and other cost savings actions, including expected results from the implementation of the Company’s Five-Point Plan and positive cash generation; the Company’s ability to regain compliance with the Nasdaq Listing Standards and maintain the listing of its securities on Nasdaq; risks related to ongoing legal proceedings; the Company’s limited experience operating as a public company and its ability to remediate its material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting; the ability of the Company to retain key personnel; the effect of economic conditions on the industries and markets in which VWE operates, including financial market conditions, rising inflation, fluctuations in prices, interest rates and market demand; the effects of competition on VWE’s future business; the potential adverse effects of health pandemics, epidemics or contagious diseases on VWE’s business and the U.S. and world economy; declines or unanticipated changes in consumer demand for VWE’s products; disruption of supply or shortage of energy; VWE’s ability to adequately source grapes and other raw materials and any increase in the cost of such materials; the impact of environmental catastrophe, natural disasters, disease, pests, weather conditions and inadequate water supply on VWE’s business; VWE’s level of insurance against catastrophic events and losses; impacts from climate change and related government regulations; VWE’s significant reliance on its distribution channels, including independent distributors, particularly in its wholesale operations; a loss or significant decline of sales to important distributes, marketing companies, or retailers; risks associated with new lines of business or products; potential reputational harm to VWE’s brands from internal and external sources; decline in consumer sentiment to purchase wine through VWE’s Direct-to-Consumer channels; possible decreases in VWE’s wine quality ratings; integration risks associated with recent or future acquisitions; possible litigation relating to misuse or abuse of alcohol; changes in applicable laws and regulations and the significant expense to VWE of operating in a highly regulated industry; VWE’s ability to maintain necessary licenses; VWE’s ability to protect its trademarks and other intellectual property rights; risks associated with the Company’s information technology and ability to maintain and protect personal information; VWE’s ability to make payments on its indebtedness; risks that the Company is unable to meet the additional restrictions and obligations imposed by its amended credit agreement; and those factors discussed in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There may be additional risks including other adjustments that VWE does not presently know or that VWE currently believes are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those expressed in or implied by these forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect VWE’s expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date and time of this news release. VWE undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, except as may be required by law. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon these forward-looking statements.

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Investors

Deborah K. Pawlowski

Kei Advisors LLC

dpawlowski@keiadvisors.com

Phone: 716.843.3908



Media

Mary Ann Vangrin

mvangrin@vintagewineestates.com

Source: Vintage Wine Estates, Inc.