Top Ten in Ten – Top trending stories on Drinks Trade Digital by Ioni Doherty

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SCAN THIS QUICK TEN-MINUTE READ OF THE TOP TEN TRENDING ONLINE LIQUOR INDUSTRY NEWS STORIES FOR THE PAST QUARTER ON DRINKSTRADE.COM.AU. VISIT DRINKSTRADE.COM.AU FOR DAILY NEWS UPDATES.

Words Ioni Doherty, Editor Drinks Trade Digital Edition

1. Endeavour acquires Josef Chromy wines in Tasmania

April 29, 2022 Endeavour Group has acquired Tasmania’s Josef Chromy Wines in a partnership with Warakirri Asset Management, one of Australia’s leading agricultural investment managers. The acquisition will further enhance Paragon Wine Estates, Endeavour Group’s fine wine portfolio, which includes a collection of award-winning and premium heritage wineries and wine brands. “We are thrilled to add Josef Chromy Wines to our Paragon Wine Estates portfolio as part of our strategy to grow our premium wine production capabilities,” Endeavour Group Managing Director and CEO Steve Donohue said.

1 2. Yellow Tail remains at top of the world as Casella moves to change business model

May 12, 2022 Once again, Yellow Tail has been crowned the world’s Most Powerful Wine Brand by the 2022 Wine Intelligence Global Wine Brand Power Index. The brand achieved a top ten ranking in 10 markets, and in particular, the brand’s strength in the US market is key to cementing its top global ranking. It has been ranked the world’s Most Powerful Wine Brand in The Wine Intelligence Global Brand Power Index for five consecutive years (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022). Libby Nutt, GM Global Marketing and Export Sales at Casella Family Brands said, “There is no doubt that COVID-19 has caused huge disruption across the wine industry, but during this time, Yellow Tail benefited from a consumer shift towards tried and trusted brands. As the industry begins to stabilise, we’re proud the brand has maintained a positive connection with consumers.” The news comes in the same week that the Casella Family invited expressions of interest to purchase more than 7K hectares of vineyards across 35 properties in New South Wales and South Australia. Under the sale proposal, the buyer would continue to own and operate Casella’s vineyard portfolio in South Australia and the Riverina region including a selection of landmark vineyards in the Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Langhorne and Currency Creek, Limestone Coast, and the Riverina. Casella is offering a long-term sale agreement, so it keeps the wine grapes from these vineyards to ensure ongoing supply for its already established brands.

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3. San Francisco’s golden gates open to Starward

April 13, 2022 Twelve of Starward’s whiskies have been awarded Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Founder, David Vitale said: “To be recognised, on a global stage, as some of the finest quality whisky in the world is a true testament to our incredible Australian ingredients and of course, the team’s ability to keep our innovative ethos fresh. It’s Australian whisky, and we are ecstatic to be celebrating this with the world!” Starward won Double Gold for 12 of its whiskies including Nova Single Malt Whisky and Fortis Single Malt. It won Gold for its Two-Fold Double Grain Whisky, Dolce Single Malt Whisky and Single Barrel #7598 Single Malt Whisky. Australian whiskies had over 60 entries this year with close to half of them receiving a 46 per cent gold medal or higher. Callington Mill Distillery in Tasmania also performed well and won five double gold medals in this year’s content. The distillery’s entire Leap of Faith series received awards.

4. TWE opens largest premium winemaking site in Southern Hemisphere

May 11, 2022 Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (TWE) has opened the largest winemaking site in the Southern Hemisphere, with the capacity to produce more than 100 million litres of wine every year. South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas declared the site open, attending the ribbon cutting with TWE’s CEO Tim Ford and Supply Officer Kerrin Petty. The business unveiled its new $165 million state-of-the-art wine production facility in Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley, adjacent to and an extension the existing Wolf Blass Bilyara site. It is the winemaker’s largest bottling operation in the world, packaging up to 216 million bottles per year, operating four bottling lines, and exporting to more than 70 countries around the world. The site employs around 400 permanent team members and up to 600 during peak vintage periods. TWE Chief Supply Officer Kerrin Petty said the new facility demonstrated the leading premium wine company’s commitment to South Australia and its continued focus on innovation in the wine sector.

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5. Accolade Wines Named Large Supplier of the Year

May 13, 2022 Accolade Wines was named Endeavour Group’s Large Supplier of the Year at last night’s awards presentation in Melbourne. Endeavour said: “As the signature award of the program, this award celebrates an exemplary partner who has achieved over and above expectations resulting from their collaborative ways of working and shared values. “Accolade Wines has worked with Endeavour Group on strategic initiatives to innovate in the wine category, including exploring new formats, brands, premium customer experiences and digital campaigns to meet the changing needs of customers.” Accolade was also awarded Supply Chain of the Year Awards for its “great capacity to persist, adapt and transform in the face of change”.

6. Dan Murphy’s MD Resigns

May 3, 2022 Alex Freudmann has resigned from his role as Managing Director, Dan Murphy’s to return home to the United Kingdom. He will remain in the role for six months, and recruitment for his replacement has commenced. Endeavour Group Managing Director & CEO, Steve Donohue said Mr Freudmann, who joined Dan Murphy’s as Managing Director at the end of 2019, has played an integral role in the success of the business during his tenure. “Since joining Dan Murphy’s, Alex has not only helped to successfully navigate the business through an incredibly disruptive two years during the COVID pandemic, he has been instrumental in driving the innovation and modernisation now synonymous with the Dan Murphy’s brand. “Under Alex’s leadership, the Dan Murphy’s team has regained its position as trend leader in the industry. Alex has supported the creation of new store formats, and together with the endeavourX team, he has overseen Dan Murphy’s digital platforms become the ‘front door’ for customers.”

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7. The future is here. The future is now.

May 4, 2022 It’s a whole new world facing the drinks industry and it is happening right now. This was Steve Donohue’s message to guests at Tuesday’s Drinks Association Network Breakfast. As far as the “knowable horizon” is concerned, the CEO and Managing Director of the Endeavour Group suggested that businesses need to adapt, be ready for “the new”, integrate rich digital content as part of their strategy and most importantly, that they get interested in consumer data. “Data is more important than ever before, because the way customers are shopping is changing faster than ever before,” Mr Donohue said. In 2015, Endeavour Group were ranging 3000 new products a year. Today, it is ranging 11,000. Forty per cent of what the Endeavour Group sells in store today did not even exist eight years ago. The business is ranging 250 new lines a week and 85 per cent of in-store growth in the past three years has come from new products.

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8. Prime Minister announces $4.5m grant for Lark Distilling Co

February 14, 2022 Lark Distilling Co has been awarded $4.5 million by the Federal Government with the funds to be directed to building a new single malt distillery on the Shene Estate in Pontville. It is one of four Tasmanian businesses to share in almost $20 million of funding through Round 2 of the Integration and Translation Streams of the Modern Manufacturing Initiative. Campaigning in Tasmania over the weekend, the Prime Minister said, “Tasmania has got the goods, the talent and the innovation to take on the world, and the Coalition’s economic plan is backing the state to do exactly that. “The Coalition’s $20 million cash injection for these projects will be leveraged with over $44.2 million in private sector coinvestment. It’s just the boost these four impressive businesses need to take their products to the next level, creating jobs from their good ideas and hard work.”

9. LMG’s most successful promotion ever

February 10, 2022 In March, Liquor Marketing Group (LMG) ran its most successful brand campaign ever, leading to a sales lift of 9 per cent when compared to last year. At a category level, this equated to sales of beer lifting by 7 per cent, wine by 9 per cent, spirits by 11 per cent and the biggest lift in RTDs which grew by 17 per cent. Damien Page, General Manager – Merchandising and Marketing for LMG said, “The results have been fantastic – it’s the most successful brand campaign we have ever run. We are especially pleased with the online engagement.” Indeed, online engagement at LMG hit an all-time high with eCommerce sales up by 67 per cent for the promotional period, compared to the same time last year. The Brand in Hand activation coincided with the commencements of the NRL and AFL football seasons, and was intended to drive sales as well as shopper engagement with the Bottlemart and SipnSave brands.

10. Campari acquires Maison Lallier ahead of release of Série R.018

May 9, 2022 Campari Group has established a new division and announced the acquisition of its first Champagne, Champagne Lallier. The acquisition is also significant as it marks the first entry into the Champagne market by an Italian company. “As the first Italian player in the Champagne category, we have great ambitions for Maison Lallier,” said Bob Kunze-Concewitz, Campari Group CEO. Campari Group acquired an 80 per cent share in Champagne Lallier in 2020 and the brand will be managed by Campari’s new division, RARE. Headquartered in New York, RARE is focused on advancing Campari’s super-premium and above offering and will pilot across an ensemble of brands including Champagne, Cognac, Rum, Bourbon, Single Malt Scotch, and White Spirits. Founded in 1906 in Aÿ, one of the few French villages classified as ‘Grand Cru’, Champagne Lallier carries a prestigious name, and its distinctive winemaking philosophy aims to enhance the individuality of the terroir. Its expressions include Lallier’s flagship Série R (R.018) and Blanc de Blancs.