FIFCO USA has named Gustavo Cornejo its new CEO, effective immediately.
Cornejo succeeds Piotr Jurjewicz, who had led the company’s U.S. operations since 2022. Jurjewicz served as CMO prior to his appointment as CEO.
Cornejo is a decade-long FIFCO veteran, most recently serving as GM for FIFCO’s operations in Northern Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico. He previously led sales in the U.S. from March 2017 through July 2020.
In the announcement, FIFCO CEO Rolando Carvajal thanked Jurjewicz for his “significant” contributions, while expressing confidence in Cornejo’s “ability to push FIFCO USA towards positive business outcomes.”
“[Cornejo] is a strategic leader and will bring a fresh perspective towards our business challenges, leveraging deep knowledge of the FIFCO system and a clear understanding of our U.S. business,” Carvajal added.
For his part, Cornejo said he’s excited to return to Buffalo to lead FIFCO USA.
“I will spend the next 100 days immersing myself in the business and working with partners internally and externally to shape a forward-looking strategy, which I am excited to share once this process is complete,” Cornejo said.
FIFCO USA’s portfolio includes Seagram’s, Labatt, Genesee Brewing Company and Lipton Hard Iced Tea. The company is the 12th largest off-premise beer category vendor year-to-date through May 18, with more than $111.1 million in dollar sales, according to market research firm Circana. Both dollar sales and volume have declined 10.5% and 11.5%, respectively, through mid-May, the firm reported.
Lipton Hard Iced Tea was the “fastest growing hard iced tea in the U.S.” by sales volume in the four-week period ending May 2025, per Circana total U.S. AOC data shared by FIFCO.
Under Jurjewicz’s leadership, the company has worked to upgrade its facilities, including the installation of a $28 million canning line as part of the $50 million modernization effort.
Earlier this year, the company introduced new packaging for Seagram’s Escapes, including slim cans, reformulated flavors. The company also rolled out co-branded Seagram’s Escapes spiked offerings with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as part of a multi-year partnership and event integrations at events such as this August’s SummerSlam.