SPONSORED CONTENT: To mark International Women’s Day 2025, SLTN reached out to a cross section of the many successful woman working in the modern drinks industry to ask them about their experiences, the challenges and obstacles they have overcome, and the business benefits of equality and inclusivity.
Duygu Karaman
National Account Executive – Cash & Carry, for Global Brands UK
Being a woman in the drinks industry – especially as someone from a diverse background – has been both eye opening and transformative.
It is an industry that has traditionally been male-dominated, especially in leadership and sales roles, which means that women often must work harder to prove their expertise and earn the same level of respect.
However, I see this as a driving force rather than a setback – being in this space allows me to challenge outdated norms and pave the way for more women to step into influential roles.
I have also witnessed a positive shift in the industry with more companies recognizing the value of diverse perspectives.
But progress isn’t automatic; it requires constant effort. I believe that representation matters – not just in numbers, but in making sure women’s voices are truly heard, valued, and reflected in decision making.
That’s why i make it a priority to support and uplift other women in the industry ensuring that we are not just present but empowered.
At times I’ve encountered male customers who were hesitant to take my advice seriously, either because of my age, my background or simply because I am a woman.
Over time, I have learned to navigate these situations with confidence – instead of seeing these biases as limitations I use them as motivation to be even more prepared, strategic and assertive.
In many cases those who initially underestimated me have become some of my strongest business partners.
Sometimes, being different from the industry norm can be an advantage – it allows me to approach conversations with fresh perspectives and connect with people in ways that might not be typical in more traditional settings.
Gillian Dalziel
Learning for Life Programme Manager at Diageo
I’ve been fortunate to have a positive experience working in the drinks industry, particularly within hospitality.
Starting my career in the early 2000s, in every role I’ve had, I’ve always felt encouraged and empowered by the people I’ve worked with from the outset.
Transitioning from juggling two jobs to joining Diageo in 2007 was a turning point, giving me the opportunity to grow professionally, learn from talented colleagues, and contribute to a company that has supported my development at every step.
My journey from working in bars to leading the Diageo Learning for Life programme also required navigating a steep learning curve as I adapted to the corporate environment. These experiences taught me the value of perseverance and adaptability. At Diageo, my success has always been driven by the value I bring to the business and my passion, not by my gender.
Inclusivity isn’t just the right thing to do – it drives real success.
When we create an environment where everyone feels valued and heard, we benefit from diverse perspectives and ideas. It makes us stronger, more creative, and fosters effective collaboration.
By welcoming diversity, we attract and retain the right talent, engage our teams, and build better business partnerships. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.
Janice McIntosh
Marketing Director for UK, Europe and Global Travel Retail at Whyte and Mackay.
My experience has been a positive one in an industry that has been open and welcoming.
There have been times when I have been the only female in the room, but I’m delighted that is changing.
Last year, I was truly honoured to become a Keeper of the Quaich in recognition of my commitment to the Scotch Whisky industry. There were many other females who became Keepers at the same time, which is a strong indicator that the industry is embracing change.
When I started my career in the drinks industry there were very few women, and looking back that could have been very intimidating.
I have had some great experiences working in teams where my contribution was valued and being a woman in the industry hasn’t held me back.
Today I really champion diversity, having different opinions and voices at the table. Diversity is something we should keep striving for to help us build stronger teams and achieve better outcomes.
For women joining Whyte and Mackay there are a number of female role models to look up to which is fantastic. We also have great staff retention which I think is partly to do with being open to colleagues taking secondments or permanent moves to a different part of the business.
If people show commitment and passion for what we do, they can excel and learn in different roles, and I would absolutely encourage that.
In my own career I have been grateful for the flexibility my employers have shown which has enabled me to travel less when the children were young and now I have the options to do more as I work across global channels.
Lou Pollitt
Category & Insights Director at Lucky Saint
I’ve been at Lucky Saint for two years now and it’s been an overwhelmingly positive experience.
I started my career in consumer goods at Innocent Drinks, and it was the first time that I was able to see women in roles that I could aspire to.
I didn’t necessarily realise at the time, but seeing someone modelling where you want to get to is such a confidence boost to believing you can achieve it yourself.
I still spend a lot of time at networking events with a disproportionate number of men, and it can be hard to break into the camaraderie, especially as someone relatively new to the hospitality industry.
I’m thankful that my Dad instilled in me a love of cask ale and the pub – it’s amazing what an unlock it can be to prove you know the difference between a Best Bitter and a Pale Ale and have an opinion on tap sparklers!
We have a majority female leadership team at Lucky Saint, and several of us have families and work part time. I feel incredibly grateful that I have the opportunity to balance family life with a leadership role for such a brilliant brand.
We very much try and educate the whole team on the challenges faced by women in the workplace.
We aren’t a huge multinational, which gives us more flexibility to treat people as individuals and champion different strengths and diverse opinions.
Our flexible and hybrid working policies definitely help to contribute to the gender balance within the team.
Munnawar Chishty
Chief Marketing Officer at Carlsberg Britvic
My experience as a woman working in the drinks industry has been really positive.
One of the highlights has been securing increased marketing investment across our brands, which has allowed us to take marketing to new heights.
When I first joined the drinks industry earlier in my career, it was definitely much more traditional and male-dominated with more of a focus on commercial goals compared to some of the industries I’ve been in such as beauty and FMCG.
However, I’ve been able to help this evolve throughout my time in drinks and we’re seeing many more brand-led stories in marketing, which is very exciting.
I also love the people in this industry. Working with customers has been incredibly rewarding, especially having the chance to engage in meaningful conversations and influence their agendas.
Soon after I started at Britvic, I was tasked with driving business transformation while also building trust and visibility, which is no easy feat.
I’ve had to learn not to be afraid of challenging the status quo in a constructive and appropriate manner. It’s important to question the ways things have always been done and think differently, which hasn’t always been easy, but it’s been a critical part of driving change.
At Carlsberg Britvic, female equality is actively supported through several initiatives that empower women and foster an inclusive environment.
We have Lean In Circles, which provide a platform for women to come together, share experiences, and offer support to one another. These circles help women feel more confident in their professional growth and enable them to influence decisions being made within the business.
Having experienced prejudice based on my gender, race and religion throughout my career, this topic is incredibly important to me. I believe it is essential to emphasise the importance of talent and capabilities, no matter the person.
Sophie Birkbeck
Regional Sales Manager – Wine at C&C Group (Tennent’s Direct, Matthew Clark)
It’s hard to know how different my experience might have been if I was a man in the industry, but it’s fair to say that when I started 15 years ago there were definitely more men specialising in wine than women.
Possibly, this has encouraged me to work that bit harder to build my expertise and knowledge, so that I have confidence in my own voice to speak up despite being outnumbered!
I remember one of the first wine dinners I arranged for a customer – I had recently completed my WSET Level 3 award in Wine and was revising to start my Diploma.
The representative from the winery who came to host the event was – dare I say it – a traditional ‘mustard cords’ type of wine specialist. No matter how many questions I asked him regarding the wines and their production, every answer was directed to the male guest at the table; my husband, a telecoms project manager with very little knowledge or indeed interest in wine as a category.
This was an early reminder that there is still inequality out there in the trade that needs to be challenged.
C&C has a DE&I Strategic Plan in place covering three focus areas. One of those is championing gender diversity and this has led to 30% representation in leadership roles.
Our family leave policy has also been enhanced so that all colleagues taking Maternity and Adoption leave receive 26 weeks’ paid leave.
We have developed our portfolio to highlight some incredible female wine producers.
A recent addition to our Scottish portfolio is the Inzuzo ‘The Big Picture’ brand from Journey’s End in South Africa. This new brand of Rhône inspired blends is headed up by a black, female winemaker, Kaylin Willscott, from the local township who won the Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé of the year in 2023.
Bringing these exciting and relevant producers to our portfolio and to the Scottish wine trade helps set us apart from our competitors; after all, selling wine is selling a story, and these compelling stories are hard to resist.
Hannah Ingram
Head of Marketing at Eden Mill
I came straight into the drinks industry via a graduate programme as soon as I left university, so it is the only industry in which I have ever worked. I’ve now been working for drinks companies for almost a decade and, on the whole, it has been very positive experience for me.
I know that this is not the case for everybody and that there is still some distance to go with regards to more equality in the drinks industry but over the course of the past ten years or so, I think there has been a lot of positive change with more women being present in the industry and with people in general calling out inequality or sexist comments and behaviour.
When I was 22 and going through the recruitment process for the graduate programme, I remember an interviewer telling me that being ‘young and female’ can be challenging in this industry, so how did I think I would overcome that?
I told them that those were two aspects of myself that I couldn’t change (nor did I want to) and that I felt it could be advantageous to bring a different outlook and perspective to the table. It must have worked, as I ended up getting the job!
I was abroad for those first two years of my career, and it was definitely tough at times working in a foreign language and being outside of my comfort zone but staying confident in myself and occasionally having to have a thick skin definitely helped.
At Eden Mill, we are a small team and we are pretty much an equal split between male and female, including within the senior leadership team, which feels quite unique. From the moment I started working here, I have always felt included and have also been very inspired by fellow female colleagues in roles that are normally very male-dominated.
I have always had a positive experience with my managers and have felt very supported by them and I think that has had a huge impact on the trajectory of my career. I have had both male and female managers, but each and every one of them has always looked at and valued my skills, capability and attitude ahead of my gender or age.
A big part of inclusivity is helping others see their own strengths, encouraging them to take on new challenges and helping to elevate them and I have been fortunate to have consistently been surrounded by people who do this.
I can’t think of any instances that have affected me personally, but I have certainly noticed a negative impact on other businesses in the industry when they haven’t been inclusive. For example, there have been occasions in recent times where certain brands have released ‘lighter profile’ Scotch whisky products that they have openly marketed towards women.
However, many women already enjoy Scotch whisky, drink it regularly and are very knowledgeable about it so these brands rightly experienced a backlash for trying to create something that absolutely wasn’t needed and that fed into the narrative that ‘whisky is only for men’ which the industry has – rightly – been moving away from for a while now.
Kirsty McLeod
Business Development Manager with Star Pubs
Since I joined Heineken 10 years ago, it’s been inspiring to see to a big increase in the number of women working in all areas of the sector and attaining senior management and board positions. There’s now a clear and established career path for women who want to progress to the highest levels.
I think that just being a female BDM helps support other women. When I’m out in trade, female members of bar staff will comment on how they didn’t realise that roles like this existed and that they’re pleased to see women filling them. It opens up possibilities for them and they see they could go down another avenue.
In addition, female licensees will say it’s nice to work alongside another woman. They will also turn to me for emotional support as well, perhaps feeling more comfortable talking with another woman about personal issues they’re facing than they might with a man.
In terms of recruitment, I always try to ensure I have a diverse range of candidates for any licensee positions that are available. I recently ran a Women in Business event to encourage female talent in other sectors to consider a career in pubs. Attendees were simply not aware of the opportunities the pub trade offers. They could see there’s a route to more senior roles and it sparked their interest. Hopefully it will result in more women entering the sector.
Within Star Pubs there are now women in senior management roles and on the board, and in my region around half of the pubs are headed up by women.
But we need to shout about the success of women regularly throughout the year, not just on International Women’s Day. More women’s groups across the licensed trade would be a good starting point – they’re great for sharing experiences, networking and showcasing top achievers as speakers.
Lauren Hutchison
Licensee of The Steadings, Kirkcaldy
I didn’t want to work for men my whole life, and through hard work, determination and commitment I’ve moved up and on to have my own pub and be my own boss.
I’m still quite young and my team are young, too. I aim to encourage and support them by being the best role model I can. I lead from the front and demonstrate that you can go as far as you like if you try, push on and don’t let anything get in your way.
Seeing me have my own pub at the age of 26 gets them thinking and is motivating. I let them enjoy the fun parts of the job – serving and chatting to customers – but I also encourage them to step back and see there’s more to hospitality and that it can be a real career.
For those that want to, I’ll provide further training – for example, I’m putting one of my youngest team members through a Modern Apprenticeship in Hospitality Management and Supervision.
It’s our responsibility to encourage women to progress by making sure the industry offers the training and career paths that will enable them to move up the ladder.
Some people don’t want to go further and that’s fine. As employers we need to work closely with our teams to see who has the potential, capability and ambition to move up and then support them in doing so.
Women need to stand strong and make sure we’re seen and heard – whilst always remembering it’s about gender equality, not trying to overtake men. Confidence is vital. When we’re in a room full of men, we need the courage to speak up.
More broadly we all need to call out outdated views of women – whether these come from customers, suppliers or colleagues. I’m young, blonde and female, so people often have misconceptions about me – for example that I won’t understand business or that my family must have bankrolled me to get my pub.
I find humour is the best way of countering this and gently educating people that women are just as capable as men.
