drinks news Issue 26 - June 2016

the drinks association | June 2016

A new way to wine taste - in test tubes! Get the low-

down on page 8. All the latest drinks data on

cider, spirits, wine and RTD on page 10.

Australian drinks Awards is shaping up to be the most

hotly contested ever. Page 2.

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Liquor Executive Program 2016: develop winning strategies for your business A new course aiming to help drinks industry executives improve leadership capability and access insights across the supply chain has been organised for September 4-9, 2016.

The Liquor Executive Program is a fully residential summit in Mount Eliza, Victoria. Created by the Institute of Food & Grocery Management (IFGM), it’s been designed to build market knowledge, personal resilience and collaboration in the drinks industry

“This executive-level program analyses industry challenges and the leadership skill sets required to tackle them,” said IFGM director Dr Melinda Muth (above). “Using the latest research and a cross-section of interactive discussions, workshops and case studies, participants

have a unique opportunity to learn and put those skills into practice.”

The program will explore global trends and next generation innovation while promoting exchange between business insiders, executives and teachers.

It will include workshops, lectures and case studies. Program delegates are executives and influencers in the Australian and New Zealand Liquor industry with a variety of backgrounds and experience including sales, marketing, finance and general management across the supply chain.

Guest speakers include Sue Anderson,

director, Retail Capabilities; Stuart McGregor, Founder and Director of Liquid Ideas; Andrew Amarant, General Manager International Sales, Asahi Premium Beverages; George Samios, Global Marketing Director Regional Brands, Treasury Wine Estate; Eliza Brown, CEO, All Saints Estate & St Leonard’s Vineyard; Danielle Allan, Co-Founder & Owner, Two Birds Brewing; and Rachel Taulelei, Chief Executive Officer, Kono Foods.

For more information about the program, contact program manager Anita Pike on (03) 8640 0947 or [email protected] or visit https://ifgm.com.au/liquor-executive-program/

https://ifgm.com.au/liquor-executive-program/

https://ifgm.com.au/liquor-executive-program/


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Counting down to the drinks industry night of the year Entries and submissions for the Australian drinks Awards 2016 have officially closed and it’s shaping up to be the most hotly contested field in the Awards’ four-year history.

“We are thrilled to see an increase in entries across all categories,” said drinks association CEO Sandra Przibilia.

“Entries are up 18 per cent on last year across the board. The calibre of submissions this year is great – the judges are going to have a tough time making their decisions.

The judging process will continue until the end of July.


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The drinks association is looking forward to welcoming Michael Walton to the stage as the host of the Australian Drinks Awards 2016.

Michael has been a long-time friend and partner to the industry. This connection has been fostered from his time as a liquor retailer, through to his work leading Nielsen’s liquor team and most memorably presenting annually at drinks breakfast seminars.

Today he speaks at local and international conferences on driving growth and connecting brands with consumers. Much of Michael’s work also involves facilitating strategy and leadership programmes.

He’s a passionate presenter who knows our industry, our consumers and us. And he loves a laugh.

“I am thrilled to be invited to host our night of nights for the liquor industry. Celebrating excellence is something every industry should aspire to – and I think the drinks event is one of the very best. These are credible awards judged by industry and consumers, they attract a big crowd and above all a great sense of fun.”

“I’m proud to be hosting this celebration and I’m looking forward to a night of smiles, laughs and good cheer.”

So are we!

#drinksawardswww.australiandrinksawards.com.au

Michael Walton to MC the Australian drinks Awards

Lucky door prize announced!We have some exciting news - the Awards’ lucky door prize will be six tickets plus a table of six in the Members Dining Room for a Sydney Swans home game at the SCG during the 2017 season. This fantastic prize has been donated by Delaware North.

It’s going to be a fabulous night and we can’t wait to celebrate the success of the drinks industry with our members.


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FORUM JUNE 16 2016

10.30AM - 12.00PM

NETWORK BREAKFASTAUGUST 3, 2016

4PM - 6PM

Pictured above from left: Lynne Harper, Alana House, Kathy Sloane, Noxi Sigwela, Gerri McCurtayne, Hope McGurdy, Nikola Kaurin, Donna Bell, Sandra Przibilla, Jessie Li and Lisa Chanell.

BOARD MEETING AUGUST 10, 2016

9.30AM - 12.00PM

A fond farewell to drinks business manager Gerri

Naturally there were many wine glasses involved when the drinks association farewelled its business manager of six years, Gerri McCurtayne. Gerri has been bitten by the travel bug and is going on a three-month holiday to Europe. Lynne Harper steps into a newly created role as office manager moving forward, which will encompass many of Gerri’s responsibilities.

The drinks association holds offsite strategy daysThe team at the drinks association held strategy sessions over two days at the Mantra Chatswood during May to workshop ways they could improve our service and offerings to members in the coming year.

It was fascinating for staff to have the opportunity to discuss the objectives and aims of the drinks association as it moves forward and evolves.

The final strategy session concluded with a staff dinner at Rocket restaurant in Chatswood.


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The drinks association’s latest network breakfast featured NAB’s chief economist Ivan Calhoun dissecting the Federal Budget.

More than 140 people attended the breakfast, held in the Steve Waugh Room at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

A delicious array of mini fruit muffins, butter croissants, freshly baked Danish pastries, sliced seasonal fruit and eggs benedict was enjoyed before Ivan’s speech.

Ivan was an engaging speaker who offered some fascinating insights on the drinks industry and Australia’s economic landscape.

His verdict on the Budget: “Not exciting but overall we think it looks alright for the Australian economy moving forward.”

Here are some other interesting snippets from his speech:

>> “We forecast no downturn in the next two years. But the economy doesn’t look as strong in 2018.”

>> “The X factor for the industry is Trump – he might drive people to drink a bit more!”

>> “How would Trump affect the Australian economy? The markets would be quite uncertain for a little while. But the world doesn’t end if Donald Trump is in The White House.”

>> “The Aussie dollar may drift a bit lower … 70c in a year … it won’t go back above $1 in my working career.”

>> “I’m told Chinese tourists are spending big at cellar door … we’re seeing around 100,000 Chinese visitors to Australia each month.”

We look forward to seeing you at the next network breakfast - featuring Endeavour Drinks Group Managing Director Martin Smith, on August 3, 2016.

Network breakfast focusses on Federal Budget

Clockwise from top left: guest speaker Ivan Calhoun; attendees enjoyed a magnificient view of the SCG; networking prior to the breakfast; drinks CEO Sandra Przbilla with xx Horizons’ xxx; Women in Drinks board member Madelyn Ring; guests enjoyed eggs benedict. Below: guests awaiting Ivan’s speech; Ralph Dunning


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Our favourite moments from Foodservice 2016

The conference featured fascinating speakers including restaurant identities John Fink (Otto/Fink Group), Anna Pavoni (Ormeggio at The Spit), John Lanzafame (Mazi), Colin Fassnidge (4 Fourteen), Judy McMahon (Catalina), Lisa Hobbs (Dedes Waterfront Group) and Scott Webster (Carrington Place).

It also drew industry identities such as Andy North (The Star), Mark Foley (Qantas), Stevan Premutico (Dimmi) and Emma Sturgiss (Tourism Australia).

Among the interesting sound bites …

>> Andy North on new technology not always hitting the spot with consumers: “We put the wine list on iPad - people didn’t like it.”

>> Colin Fassnidge and Scott Webster both insisted Instagram is a huge part of success as a restaurant. Scott noted: “No.1 influence on food trends is social media ... If you don’t embrace it you’ll be left behind.”

>> Mark Dorrell, Gault & Millau talks global food trends: “nose to tail isn’t just relative to a beast, it’s a generic term that can also relate to plants, for example, and using everything from the root to the leaf, preserved veggies, sustainability and ethically-sourced produce, historical cooking techniques combined with modern knowledge, decline in molecular gastronomy.”

>> Tourism Australia’s Emma Sturgiss noted: “50% of travellers rate a food & wine festival as favourite event when travelling.”

>> Restaurant & Catering noted average spend in licensed venues was in decline … but beverage spend rose in wine bars and pubs.

Alana also met with exhibitors at Foodservice 2016, including Australian drinks Awards partners Liebherr and their slick refrigeration solutions, sipped lychee cider from Lychee Gold and cherry cider from Cherry Hill Orchards, tried a delicious chicken and camembert pie from Proper National Pies, tasted donut ice-cream from Majors, the most sublime duck meatballs and chilli smoked duck, chatted with The Gourmet Goat Lady as she nibbled on her smoked goat and watched a pie judging competition organised by Baking Associations of Australia, won by Ka Pies in Victoria with its Thai Vegetable Curry Pie.

The drinks association’s communications manager Alana House attended The National Restaurant Conference and Foodservice Australia 2016, held at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion from May 22-24. Here are a few highlights ...


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Top row: Proper National Pies stand; donut gelato; many refrigeration options were on display. Middle row: sampling cherry cider at the Cherry Hill Orchards; meeting with the team from Liebherr; wine tasting at Torino. Bottom row: sampling Lychee cider from Lychee Gold; pie judging; The Gourmet Goat Lady.


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Michael Walton, chief wine activist at Secret Bottle, has created a unique way for Aussies to sample wines. His tasting club allows members to discover new wines each month from more than 100 Australian wine regions.

The wines are delivered in special tasting tubes, together with tasting notes, matching recipes and an insight into the winemakers’ stories and the region.

We sat down with Michael and asked him to give us the lowdown on how he came up with the idea and the response it has received from wine lovers.

How did you come up with the idea for Secret Bottle?

“Secret Bottle was an idea I’ve had for some time. I wanted to replicate the cellar door tasting experience at home. Being customer of quite a few wine clubs over the years I found that the selections did not always match my palate, the same with buying from a bottle shop and picking a random wine off the shelf. There had to be a better way of discovering boutique wine without spending the time and money of traveling the country’s wine regions.”

How long have you been in business?

“The first Secret Bottle pack was sent out in January this year.”

You call yourself “chief wine activist”? What is your job description?

“I’m passionate about wine, more specifically I’m passionate about boutique, Australian wine. The

Secret Bottle: a new way to wine taste

wines that are crafted by artisan wine makers, from grapes grown by passionate farmers carefully taking each vine from bud to fruit.

I believe independent wineries make some of the best wine in the country, but are too order overshadowed by mass market supermarket chain generic run of the mill plonk. Our mantra is to fight for the independent producer and uncover these hidden secret bottles. This is why we are wine activists, and proud of it.

“My role as Chief Wine Activist is to fight for the independent producer and bring boutique wine to the people.”

Tell us a little more about your passion for wine

“Some of the earliest memories I have are travelling


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to vineyards as a child curiously watching my parents taste wine not knowing what all the fuss was about. For me the love of wine is the memories and stories, being able to open something special and sharing it with family and friends. I love how everyone interprets a wine differently with different tastes resonating for each of us, and naturally this often becomes the conversation of the table.”

How did you discover Secret Bottle’s unique bottling machine?

“The ‘Wine In Tube’ product was created by a company in Bordeaux and has been around for a few years now. It was originally developed as a way to reduce postage costs in Europe for industry sampling and had been used here in Australia on a small scale with a number of promotional

campaigns. We came across the product one day while researching wine packaging and discovered that no one was using it as a subscription based product and it was not widely known in Australia.”

Have there been any surprises in how people are using the tasting tubes?

“We did not expect the tasting tubes to be such a big hit as gifts. We have members who have bought multiple subscriptions as gifts and love that it is a gift that keeps on giving over a period of months and that it is such a conversational piece.”

If you’re interested in trying Secret Bottle or a winemaker who thinks you havesomething special that Secret Bottle members would enjoy visit secretbottle.com.au

http://secretbottle.com.au


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MAT in spirit sales rise MAT sales in the domestic spirit market were significantly higher in April 2016 than in April 2015 with 6,829,399 cases sold for the former compared to 6,587,405 for the latter.

Below is an excerpt from our April monthly report; to access more information like this, contact us on 02 9415 1199.

SPIRITS

Figure 1: Moving Annual Total (‘MAT’) sales of Spirits in the domestic market

Scotch, Bourbon and Vodka continue to dominate domestic Spirits sales with 22.75%, 19.19% and 17.31% control of the market respectively.


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Below is an excerpt from our April monthly report; to access more information like this, contact us on 02 9415 1199.

RTDMAT in RTD sales fallMAT sales in the domestic RTD market were even in April 2016 with April 2015 with 22,685,444 cases sold for the former compared to 22,684,872 for the latter.


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MAT sales in Australian wine and imported wine rise MAT sales in the Australian wine market were notionally higher in April 2016 than in April 2015 with 372,958,005 litres sold for the former compared to 369,305,253 for the latter. Meanwhile Imported wines recorded 18,826,963 sales in April 2016 compared to 18,227,582 in April 2015.

WINE


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Monthly MAT sales rise MAT sales in the domestic cider market were significantly higher in April 2016 than in April 2015 with 10,655,131.

Victoria is the leader in the domestic cider market with 28.92% of the market share compared to 21.39% and 20.50% for close contenders NSW/ACT and QLD respectively.

CIDER


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Need information on liquor licences and banners fast? the drinks association can help. Providing access to the only centralised national liquor licence database in Australia, you’ll never miss out on all the latest

Top 10 banner groups percentage share of outlets Australian liquor retail market - April 2016


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Liquor and Gaming NSW has announced the introduction of compulsory online refresher training for holders of expiring responsible service of alcohol (RSA) and responsible conduct of gambling (RCG) photo competency cards. The new regulation is expected to come into effect from August when the first five year photo competency cards will start to expire.

Holders must undertake the online refresher training prior to the expiry date of their photo competency cards. The refresher costs $35 and will provide the holder with a new five year competency card.

Moving forward, the online refreshers will be the only way that people wanting to work in the industry will be able to renew their expiring competency card, meaning that completing a full course through an approved trainer will not extend the expiry date.

Online RSA and RCG refreshers to be made compulsory in NSW

The drinks association Associate Member Coffeeschool.com.au is a registered training

organisation offering RSA, RSG, Barista & Coffee Art, Bar & Cocktails and Food Hygiene Courses

online and face to face.

Coffee School is offering the drinks association members a 10% discount on their courses. Use

promotional code DRINKS10 when booking online at coffeeschool.com.au

Visit www.coffeeschool.com.au for more information or contact [email protected]

or phone 02 9211 4292.

http://coffeeschool.com.au


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Lisa Chanell has been with the drinks association since September, 2015. When she’s not delivering industry services including drinks Data, drinks Licences, drinks Banners and drinks Guide, she’s taking gorgeous photographs for Chanell Photography.

“My passion is taking photographs that create a memory, an inspiration or relection that can inspire others to see the beauty we have in ourselves and the world around us,” she says.

That passion often involves her getting up at between 4am and 5am to capture gorgeous sunrises!

“Some people call me crazy, but I love to create images that can capture a moment of harmony, movement, beauty and tranquility.”

“Other avenues I pursue are in event photography, performance photography, portraiture and weddings. All these fields give me the opportunity to be creative on a different level. To capture the essence or the emotion, which can be from a very intense moment between

drinks staffer Lisa debuts gorgeous photography website


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the music director and soloist to the simple enjoyment of a child enjoying an ice cream. Both require an understanding of the subject/s involved; a conversation, time spent with a person or people involved, place or setting. In this area of work there is no ‘Just point, shoot and hope for the best’ as you only ever have one chance.”

Lisa’s advise to everyone is simple: “Follow your dreams and create with passion!”

Visit her website at chanellphotography.com.au.

http://chanellphotography.com.au


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Documents

drinks news Issue 26 - June 2016