Frucor Suntory News Q2 - 2024

Pepsi unveils major rebrand to shake up the cola category

We are unleashing a new era for Pepsi with the introduction of a new logo and visual identity.

It’s been 15 years since Pepsi introduced a new logo. As a brand that’s on the world stage and enjoyed by millions of people every day, it’s important that we stay fresh, continue to drive culture forward and never settle for the status quo.

The revamped spirit and identity of Pepsi keeps the brand Thirsty for More as well – thirsty for the best tasting cola, for new entertainment experiences, for a better planet, for stronger partnerships and for accelerated growth across the portfolio.

We wanted to maintain our design legacy but bring a contemporary edge.

We asked people to draw the Pepsi logo from memory as part of our redesign exercise. Many included the Pepsi name within the globe, nodding to the powerful brand equity built over the past century. Pepsi’s new brand identity borrows equity from Pepsi’s past, whilst incorporating modern elements to create a look that is unapologetically current and undeniably Pepsi.

The updated colour palette introduces electric blue and black to bring a contemporary edge to the classic Pepsi® colour scheme, whilst the signature Pepsi pulse evokes the “ripple, pop and fizz” of Pepsi-Cola – moving in time to the beat of music, the roar of the crowd, the heartbeat of culture.

From May 2024, the New Zealand roll-out will be supported by a fully integrated campaign across digital video, out-of-home, experiential marketing and large-scale in-store activation.

The new visual identity forms part of Pepsi’s vision to ensure long-term growth in the cola category, whilst building off a strong foundation which sees the brand up +17.5% year-on-year; nearly double the rate ahead of the competitor of +9.0%*.

By modernising its flagship Pepsi brand with bolder, more vibrant packaging, this refresh helps retailers capitalise on sales amid evolving consumer tastes.

The logo was first unveiled in the United States and is now launching in over 120 countries worldwide.

*Source: Circana, T.Scan Market NZ, Dollar Sales, MAT to 17/03/24

CELSIUS® to expand to Australia and New Zealand with Suntory Oceania

In March 2024, Celsius Holdings, Inc. announced plans to expand into new international markets, growing the company’s global sales and distribution footprint to include Australia and New Zealand.

Energy drink brand CELSIUS®, a lifestyle energy drink born in fitness and a pioneer in the rapidly growing energy category, selected Suntory Oceania as its exclusive manufacturing, sales and distribution partner in Australia and New Zealand.

“We are excited to launch our strategic plan in Q4 2024 across the retail landscapes of Australia and New Zealand, and we look forward to accelerating growth in 2025,” said Tony Guilfoyle, Celsius Holdings, Inc. Chief Commercial Officer.

“CELSIUS® is a brand which is breaking new ground and delivering a totally different consumer experience,” said Darren Fullerton, CEO of Suntory Beverage & Food Oceania. “As we build Suntory Oceania, we are delighted to be partnering with CELSIUS® to evolve our portfolio and deliver new growth opportunities for all retail partners.”

Launching Q4 2024 across Australia and New Zealand, the addition of CELSIUS® to the portfolio only strengthens Suntory Oceania's position within the energy category.

CELSIUS ® is a brand which is breaking new ground and delivering a totally different consumer experience.

From New York to New Zealand

On 10 June 2024 Suntory Oceania proudly begins a beverage partnership with Sal’s Pizza across New Zealand.

Sal’s Authentic New York Pizza has proudly been serving authentic New York pizza in New Zealand since 5 July 2009 – almost 15 years! Pizzas which are made from the finest quality ingredients sourced from the same traditional suppliers as only the finest pizzerias in New York City. Sal’s are proud to say all of their base ingredients are 100% authentic and exclusive to Sal’s, with the aim to give customers a genuine and authentic high energy New York experience every time they walk into a Sal’s.

CEO and Co-Founder Nick Turner shares his thoughts around the new partnership with Suntory Oceania.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to establish a true partnership with Suntory, an innovative global leader who listened to us and how we felt we could support our customers and franchisees more effectively. The world class support and the collaboration has been refreshing. We were also lucky enough to hear from our friends at Pita Pit and Mexicali that their transition to Suntory was a tremendous decision, and exceeded their expectations.”

Sal’s is turning 15 later this year!

It’s been an incredible journey serving New Zealand with the most authentic New York pizza outside of New York during this time. They plan on celebrating this milestone in July/August with their loyal Sal’s customers, many of whom have been with them since day one when their first pizzeria opened on Commerce Street in Auckland’s CBD.

Value is a key point of difference for their brand and their products. Their pizzas are not only of the highest quality but also of significant value with their large 18” pizzas being 3.24 times bigger than the other ‘large’ 10” pizzas.

Some exciting changes recently has seen the launch of the long awaited gluten free pizza in New Zealand, a second store open in Sydney, adding to their four pizzerias already in Melbourne and 45 pizzerias across New Zealand. They are also looking forward to pursuing other markets in the coming year, focusing on the UK-with a former New Zealand franchisee heading the operations there.

Sal’s is synonymous with great pizza, great service, and American sports. Our pizzerias are always playing the best of live sports including our very own Sal’s NBL. Sal’s has proudly been the naming rights sponsor of the New Zealand National Basketball League since 2018 and we have recently extended our partnership until 2028. Basketball is an incredibly inclusive pathway for males and females of all ages and backgrounds, and we’re privileged to be able to support a game that is the fastest growing participation sport in New Zealand, and gives back in so many ways.

“Our experience so far with Brad, Brent, Ash and the rest of the team has been excellent. The transition to the Suntory family has been seamless, remarkably easy and refreshing for our stakeholders. We’re excited about this next chapter of collaboration and growth with Suntory Oceania and look forward to sharing this additional value with our loyal Sal’s customers.”

Celebrating our latest win

We are thrilled to share the exciting news that we have been awarded the prestigious Foodstuffs South Island Grocery Partnership Award at the National Awards evening.

This accolade is a wonderful recognition of the dedication and hard work our Foodstuffs South Island team puts into building collaborative relationships with our customers and the excellent service they deliver.

Harry Ellis, Head of Grocery & Retail NZ says, “At Suntory Oceania, we talk a lot about the gemba, a Japanese word which literally translates to ‘the actual place’. To us, gemba is the place where the value is created which is the shop floor, where shoppers interact with our products. Our approach has always been about understanding what our customers and shoppers want and how we meet their needs. The team spend a lot of time understanding the synergies between our business and that of Foodstuffs South Island, and the intersection of our strategies is continuing to deliver growth and fantastic results for both our business and Foodstuffs”.

It is a huge honour to be recognised for the strong partnership, collaboration and trust that we have built with Foodstuffs South Island over many years. It is not only recognition of the relationship our commercial team holds with the customer, but also the strong support we get from across the business to provide world class service – from category and shopper to our production, supply and logistics teams, we have a great team all working hard to create value at gemba.

As we celebrate this milestone, we remain committed to providing world class service, products and activation that will continue to grow beverage categories across the board. We are hugely excited and optimistic for the future of beverages, and we will continue leading for growth through innovation and quality now and into the future.

Suntory Oceania wins two awards at PepsiCo International Bottlers Conference

Late 2023, Suntory Oceania won two prestigious awards during the PepsiCo International Bottlers Conference – an event that celebrates the ‘best of the best’ in all bottlers around the world and in APAC where the competition is fierce.

Taking the honours in the ‘Stronger’ award category, in recognition of the capability development of NZ Away From Home Team alongside the first placing for the Advantage Group Grocery survey.

The success continued winning the ‘Better’ award, in recognition of the outstanding achievement of converting all single serve PET to 100% rPET in New Zealand.

These results are a testament to the incredible work done within the PepsiCo portfolio from across the entire business culminating in record high market share and results.

The Online Store relaunch

In February of 2024, we unveiled our new and improved online store to all Suntory Oceania customers across Australia and New Zealand. This 2024 release of the online store is part of the initial stage of the digital transformation journey that Suntory Oceania is making its way through.

Our primary goal during this re-platform process was to establish a stepping stone to a more user centric, intuitive experience with improved navigation and functionality. It was imperative that we provided a storefront that would reflect our dedication to create an omnichannel offering, with consistency on pricing, products and interactions across all platforms.

As we make progress on the evolution of our digital offering, we will continue to develop the online store to become a fully integrated, self-service portal with end-to-end visibility. We are excited to work towards finalising a product that helps us provide the highest level of service to our customers.

“Providing a seamless customer experience across all Suntory touchpoints is our vision for our omnichannel expansion. Reducing boundaries between digital and physical experiences by leveraging innovative technologies we aim to harmonise our digital ecosystem where our customers can effortlessly navigate and engage with our brands anytime, anywhere.”

Sheldon

Kearns - Head of Digital Customer Experience

In the meantime, we have leveraged our existing core systems functionality to integrate additional features for this first release of the online store including:

Live

pricing which offers more dynamic promotional opportunities on our store front

Each time a product is added to the cart, the online store will find the best price available to the customer. This means we have the ability to extend pricing to case deals and other promotional mechanics.

Best Sellers

We have introduced a best sellers carousel on the homepage that is tailored to our customers based on their profile. This feature is fully integrated with our backend system so we can surface any products they haven’t ordered for a while and may have forgotten about!

Order Starter

Customers now have the option to create an order with a single click of the button. The new order starter features uses an algorithm to work out what a customer's potential order could be, based on a calculation of previous products and quantities.

Account Summary

We think it’s important that customers know exactly where they are spending money. Our aim is to help grow our customers' business by providing relevant and real-time information. With personalised category breakdown and insights, customers can proactively initiate conversations with our Suntory Oceania representative to discuss where potential growth opportunities are and leverage our partnership.

Customer feedback for the new portal has been overwhelmingly positive, from look and feel, to the ease of navigating products, and creation of orders.

Using a Suntory Gemba mindset, feedback has been requested to gain further insights on future requirements. Doing so, we can further identify new opportunities to create and deliver value specific to our customers' needs.

We encourage all customers to get set up with an online store login so they can also experience the benefits of these features!

Giving back

New Zealand Fire and Emergency along with other front-line emergency crews and volunteers play a crucial role in protecting communities and the environment from the devastating impact of fires and other emergencies.

During the recent Port Hills fire in Christchurch, the bravery and dedication from Fire and Emergency crews along with the local Christchurch community was incredible. So it was with great pride that we were able to support them via our partnership with New Zealand Food Network to ensure people remained hydrated with the donation of water and other hydration products.

Reflecting on 35 years of first class servicing

Recently the ELT went on a roadshow across Australia and New Zealand as a chance to connect with as many Suntorians as possible. We celebrated recent achievements and showcased the exciting plans for the future. It also created the opportunity to acknowledge some special accomplishments of our people.

During the Auckland event, a number of Suntorians were recognised for their long tenure. One special highlight for CEO Darren Fullerton was honouring Abdul Nasir who has completed 35 years of service at Frucor/Suntory Oceania. We took the opportunity to speak with Abdul about his time at Frucor Suntory.

What is your job title?

Refrigeration service technician.

How long have you been at Frucor/ Suntory Oceania?

35 years, I started in 1989.

What were your previous roles and responsibilities?

I've held the same role throughout my time here.

What are some of the memorable changes you've witnessed in your time at Frucor/Suntory Oceania?

When I first started working at Frucor we did not possess very much high-end technical equipment. Our machines were quite old and not updated. The chillers were breaking down frequently and not a lot was done to repair or replace them. Now with Suntory, we have an updated fleet and made or bought more chillers that are state-of-the-art, energy-efficient and the latest model of chillers.

What are some of the interesting changes you've witnessed in the equipment area?

Our fleet of chillers has been upgraded to top of the range in terms of quality. We are in possession of many chillers that are more than able to compete with the evolving market.

What has kept you at Frucor/ Suntory Oceania for so long?

I very much enjoy working here and still do after many years. Since my first day, I have felt like I worked within a great environment surrounded by the most supportive team members and managers a person could have. The way the team operates and works together has always been efficient and encouraging. I really felt like I was looked after here throughout my years. I still maintain the belief that it is a genuine privilege to be working here.

What is your go-to Frucor Beverage?

Pepsi – classic. This will always be my go-to.

If you could bring back one Frucor beverage, what would it be?

The Wave drinks. They came in a variety of flavours – strawberry, chocolate and coffee/caramel. I remember my kids especially loved when I brought a few of these home for them.

Is there anyone special that you want to acknowledge? Why?

My team at home, my supportive and beautiful wife and my two kids. My indispensable team here at Frucor – my esteemed service team and my amazing managers Marie and Blake. They have helped me during my time here at Frucor and have always been the most supportive and exemplary people you can work with. They are as supportive as can be and it has been a genuine pleasure working with them.

Don’t stock any of the amazing products featured and want to hear more? Please reach out to any of the following, or feel free to browse our website and at frucorsuntory.com

Head of New Business – Nigel Saunders nigel.saunders@frucorsuntory.com

National BDM – Brent Snaddon brent.snaddon@frucorsuntory.com

National BDM – Hospitality – Rodney Marston rodney.marston@frucorsuntory.com

Upper North Island BDM – Alex Woonton alex.woonton@frucorsuntory.com

Central North Island BDM – Anton Palmer anton.palmer@frucorsuntory.com

Lower North Island BDM – Holly Fairclough holly.fairclough@frucorsuntory.com

Upper South Island BDM – Jesse McLorinan jesse.mclorinan@frucorsuntory.com

Lower South Island BDM – Georgie Thornton georgie.thornton@frucorsuntory.com