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MESSAGE TO SCHOOLIES TO DRINK RESPONSIBLY

Simon Strahan is the Chief Executive Officer of DrinkWise

Every year, DrinkWise partners with industry and other stakeholders to promote our How to Drink Properly moderation messaging at Schoolies celebrations across the country. How to Drink Properly aims to make ‘drinking to get drunk’ less socially acceptable among young adult drinkers and to encourage those already drinking in safe and moderate ways to continue to do so. This year, DrinkWise worked with industry partners from licensed venues, retail outlets and hotels in Schoolies hotspots throughout Australia, to encourage school leavers to ‘stay classy’ and provide tips and advice highlighting the difference between poor drinking practices and drinking properly. The Choose wisely, Drink wisely message was promoted in over 300 liquor stores at popular Schoolies destinations throughout Australia, including LSA NSW Members, Coles (First Choice Liquor), Endeavour Drinks Group (BWS, Dan Murphy’s) and Master Grocers of Australia (IGA) aligned outlets. We also partnered with licensed venues, state government, local councils and local police to incorporate the Choose wisely, Drink wisely messaging into more than 20 licensed venues across Victoria as well as the Mantra hotel in Lorne. Our activations are supported by geotargeted Spotify advertising and social media in Schoolies hotspots and localised venues. Our partnership with the Gold Coast’s SeaFM provided Schoolies with survival packs and tips for moderating and staying safe during their stay. Our Schoolies activity would not be possible without our industry partners, who provide generous opportunities to promote the Choose wisely, Drink wisely message. If you would like to be involved next year, please contact info@drinkwise.org.au.

COMPLETION OF THE TRANSITION TO RETAIL DRINKS

Julie Ryan is Chief Executive Officer of Retail Drinks Australia

On Tuesday 4 December 2018, the members of the Liquor Stores Association of NSW (LSA NSW) passed a special resolution at their AGM to wind up and merge into

Retail Drinks Australia. This was the final step in the creation of Retail Drinks as the national body to act as the unified voice of all off premise liquor retailers, enhancing their freedom to retail responsibly. The LSA had a 58-year history of acting as a consistent, professional and trusted advisor to both industry and government, and a value adding service provider to its members. Achieving the threshold of over 75 per cent of the 990 voting members in favour of the merger is a testament to the strength of the new model and the trust placed in the LSA NSW team who now join Retail Drinks. Retail Drinks’ unique structure preserves the state based committees of those liquor store associations that had the courage and vision to merge (reformed into state councils in the new structure), and will therefore retain all the local connections, influence and relevance. However, with the initial membership of over 2500 packaged liquor licences nationally, there will be immediate and significant scale, breadth and capability to boost the advocacy, representation and service delivery to all members. No individual category of membership will be sacrificed for the benefit of another, and national policies will be executed in each state and territory to ensure a consistent, unified voice for liquor retailers. There remains significant growth opportunity in membership and the Retail Drinks team are excited about taking the value of the organisation to even more liquor stores nationally. Industry was promised change and it has begun with incredible momentum. The members and supplier partners of Retail Drinks can look forward to a continuation of that momentum into an exciting 2019.

TIS THE SUMMER OF GIN – THAT CANNOT BE DENIED

Stuart Gregor is the President of the Australian Distillers Association (ADA) and co-founder of Four Pillars Gin

Aussie gin is everywhere, indeed, gin is everywhere, and right now it is the fastest growing white spirit category and close to the fastest growing of all spirits categories at both on and offpremise. But it was not always thus. Just a mere 14 years ago we can all remember a time I will call “Before Hendricks”. It was a dark time when gin was boring and old-fashioned and daggy as hell. Fast forward to the summer of 2018/19 and what a sexy new face gin has going on. No more Mother’s Ruin or granny’s little secret – gin, and especially premium, craft gin, is exploding – and among them, young, cashed-up consumers at the core. Today premium and super premium gin accounts for 60 per cent of all gin sales. And better still, locally made gin now accounts for 14 per cent of all gin sales – in 2014 that figure was seven per cent and that was not craft, it was locally produced retailer-brand gin. Brands like Four Pillars, Archie Rose, Melbourne Gin Company, Adelaide Hills, Never Never and Ink Gin are driving the category from strength to strength. Why? Gin’s renaissance is global. As the world looks towards drinking better cocktails and finer spirits, gin was always going to leapfrog more functional categories like vodka (which still outsells gin around 10:1 so there’s a long way to go). And gin is able to represent a place as much as any spirit. In Australia we have this cornucopia of incredible botanicals such as lemon myrtle, finger limes, Davidson plums, wattleseed, even fiery green ants, and no one in the world can replicate them. So encourage classic martinis and negronis and good old G&Ts this summer and revel in the revolution of gin – it’s about bloody time!

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MAKING THE VOYAGE TO AUSTRALIA SINCE 1855

The House of Lanson has been crafting fi ne champagnes using traditional methods avoiding malolactic fermentation for 258 years. Our most recent addition to the family is cuvée Père et Fils Brut NV which is available exclusively through the On-Premise and selected independent wine stores. An enriched evolution of the classic Lanson Black Label it pays homage to the uniquely mouth-watering House style.

On searching our archives, we discovered that Lanson Champagne has been available in Australia since 1855. Let’s raise a glass to celebrate the arrival of the new kid on the block 163 years later…

www.lanson.com #THEPERFECTSTART

Please drink responsibly.

Distributed by Wine DNA, a network of Australia’s top independent wine distributors NSW-ACT: Young & Rashleigh Wine Merchants, 02 9967 5900 VIC-TAS: Santé Wines, 03 9429 1990 QLD: Cuttings Wines, 07 3262 1455 SA-NT: Options Wines, 08 8346 9111

OPPORTUNITIES IN ABUNDANCE DESPITE TAX HURDLES

Alec Wagstaff is Chief Executive Officer of Spirits & Cocktails Australia

2019 promises to be yet another year of threat to, and opportunity for, the spirits industry in Australia. The Christmas / New Year break seems like an age ago as we ramp up for a NSW state election and a federal election soon after. We have consultations underway on mandatory pregnancy labelling as well as sugar and carbohydrates labelling. On 1 February 2019 the spirits industry suffered once again from the six-monthly CPI increase in one of the highest alcohol tax rates in the world. The temperance movement will be spreading tales of gloom and doom far removed from the reality that alcohol consumption continues to decline along with problem drinking. Yet despite these headwinds the spirit industry continues to invest heavily in innovation of product and marketing and, even more importantly, in the people who serve, sell and market our products. Every year bartenders across the country prepare for their next opportunity to show their creativity in the many competitions supported by Spirits & Cocktails Australia members and absorb new information from training sessions and masterclasses. Some of them will take the brave step to start up their own businesses and others will progress into the corporate world to help pass on the knowledge they worked so hard to obtain. At Spirits & Cocktails Australia we are excited at the opportunity to better educate all our stakeholders on the great opportunities that can be unlocked by sensible reform to our tax system and by the investment that will flow as confidence in the business environment grows. Spirits and cocktails are at the vanguard of the “drink better” movement and we will continue to press the cause for sensible regulation at all levels of government.

INCREASED TAXES WON’T HELP THOSE AT RISK OF OBESITY.

Fergus Taylor is the Executive Director of Alcohol Beverages Australia

Increasing alcohol prices has proven to be ineffective in reducing consumption among those at risk of harm, with those who drink at the highest levels also least likely to reduce their consumption when prices go up. In response to the recent study released by Deakin Health Economics, Australians already pay among the highest alcohol taxes in the world and there is a wealth of evidence to suggest increasing taxes does not reduce consumption among heavy drinkers who are most likely to be at risk of obesity. A big new tax on alcohol will punish responsible drinkers but it won’t work to deter those at risk of obesity. If you drink moderately, like 80 per cent of Australian drinkers, alcohol shouldn’t cause weight problems. The risk of obesity can increase for very heavy drinkers, so this is where targeted solutions ought to be directed. The study itself acknowledged the strength of evidence was low with a ‘low certainty of the effect of reductions in alcohol consumption on Body Mass Index / body weight outcomes due to absence of relevant studies.’ A recent study in the European Journal of Health Economics found when prices increased, heavy drinkers were most likely to continue drinking at the same levels they did previously, albeit choosing a lesser quality product. People who are drinking harmful levels of alcohol are unlikely to be deterred by higher prices and will instead go to great lengths to obtain alcohol when populationwide measures such as price increases and bans are imposed. Those people represent a very small part of the population and we should be implementing targeted solutions that promote education, intervention and ongoing support for them. Australians who drink responsibly should not be impacted by policies designed to address harm among problem drinkers.

LOOKING FOR THOSE READY TO BE NEXT: FUTURE LEADERS 2019.

Jo Hargreaves is Senior R&D Program Manager at Wine Australia.

Applications have opened for the 2019 vintage of Australia’s grape and wine sector leadership development program – Future Leaders. Future Leaders is a professional and personal development program that creates a network of confident, committed individuals ready and willing to contribute to the future success of the Australian grape and wine community. Future Leaders has sounded the call for leadership since 2006. Many great leaders have stepped up, planting seeds of innovative leadership that has taken both their businesses and our sector to the next level. This has seen the wine sector capitalise on a positive economy and strong brand recognition on the global stage; preserving traditions, while at the same time cultivating the future. In 2019, Future Leaders is looking for those who will ‘be next’. Participants will be guided on a personal leadership journey and asked to consider the opportunities and challenges facing our sector. They will explore cutting edge leadership skills, hear from world class speakers and receive state of the art input on topics such as innovation, thought leadership, culture and sector impact. Future Leaders 2019 will also call on previous alumni and long-serving individuals across our community to be mentors throughout the program; to provide their wisdom, build greater networks and support an exciting future for our sector. Will you ‘be next’? Visit www. winefutureleaders.com and apply before Friday 15 March 2019.

CRAFT CIDER IS NOW A ‘THING’!

Sam Reid is the President of Cider Australia and co-owner of Wille Smith’s

I hope you all managed to get through the Christmas craziness and managed to trade well at the same time. It’s an important time of year for all of us in the industry whether a supplier, venue or bottleshop but it is only one part of the year and I hope you have the chance to sit down and reflect on the year that has been. From a Cider Australia perspective it’s been an enormous year, culminating in the launch of the 100 per cent Australian Grown Trust Mark and an improved relationship with key customers and with Horticulture Innovation Australia. Although we aren’t seeing Australian Craft Cider and the 100 per cent Australian Grown ‘trust mark’ rolling out at scale yet, we are set up for a big focus on that in 2019. With some strong customer support behind our members, the future looks good for this bright light within the Australian Cider Category. I’d like to say thank you to all our members, suppliers and sponsors for your support over last year and I’m looking forward to 2019 being the year the ‘Australian Craft Cider’ became a ‘thing’!

2019: TAXING TIMES

Brett Heffernan is the CEO of the Brewers Association of Australia

We know 2019 has major issues in store. The National Alcohol Strategy should be finalised shortly. Labelling – mandatory pregnancy warnings, carbs and sugar, and energy are all in the mix. While technology has seen consumers and industry move on since the 2009 Blewett Review, bureaucrats can’t help themselves when it comes to forcing up costs for no discernible reason. In an era of Apps and websites, the label is simply out-moded. With Aussies paying among the highest excise in the word for beer, people are increasingly asking why, and government has little rebuttal that makes sense. Greater collaboration between major and independent brewers, through the respective peak bodies, is essential. We can achieve far more for beer together, with agreed policy positions, shared resources and intelligence, than each pushing our own barrows. That has certainly been the recent experience and lesson out of the US and it makes sense in Australia. Distillers and wineries, big and small, have their argybargy over some issues, but they get it on key issues of mutual advantage. Some in the independent beer space are very anti-establishment, that’s to be expected, but for the major brewers’ part, we really don’t care about marketing pitches pitting small against big. It’s water off a duck’s back. To allow those views to see us fail to come together on issues of mutual agreement and serious policy, would be extremely short-sighted and only weaken beer’s hand in the broader alcohol policy debate. Engaging in the major policy discussions from a basis of fact, strategically positioning beer accordingly and, from there, tapping into the overwhelming goodwill Aussies have for a beer is imperative. This election year is already throwing up serious issues. While neither side of politics wants to piss-off more than 9 million beer drinking voters before polling day, it’s what comes after that counts.

ASPIRE TO INSPIRE!

Simone Allan is founder and director of Mondo recruitment agency

Where is your wise counsel? Is it the worldwide web? Leaders need navigational support. Mentors are worth a mention. We have interviewed over 2700 leaders in business and the one commonality was that respected drinks industry leaders sought mentors. Australian culture is predominantly a structure based upon nuclear families, unlike in Europe and there is minimal access to older, wise family counsel. Senior executives are encouraged to retire before 65 years. Corporate history is lost. This is unlike Asian cultures, where aged leaders in organisations are given guidance roles. Australia’s best and fastest growing companies today are leveraging the power of mentoring; recognising this absence of accessible wise counsel. A Deloitte survey, 70 per cent of companies are seriously concerned about their lack of employee engagement and retention. 70 per cent of Fortune 500 companies have structured mentoring programs. Employers typically spend six to nine months of an employee’s salary on recruitment, training, and replacement. This is especially important for millennial employees, who are three times more likely to switch jobs than other generations. There are massive benefits of mentoring in business: 1. Recruitment and Onboarding 2. Retaining and Engaging Talent 3. Developing In-house Talent and Future Leaders 4. Communicating culture and knowledge sharing. Smart Telco companies are creating mentorship platforms called Leadership Circles,where one mentor can work closely with several mentees – even remotely. For more information: www.mondomentor.com