Everything You Need to Know: Australian Drinks Awards 2018

AUSTRALIAN DRINKS AWARDS 2018

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

First established in 2013, the Australian Drinks Awards have grown to become the premier event for honouring achievement and innovation in the Australian drinks industry. Every year they recognise, encourage, promote and celebrate excellence from brands and suppliers. Just as the industry has evolved over the last five years, so have the awards, and this year, they return with a look that sets the scene for the biggest and best event yet. With new awards and a new location on the cards, Drinks Trade sat down with The Drinks Association’s* CEO, Georgia Lennon, to find out everything you need to know and what to look forward to on the industry’s night of nights.

Date: Thursday 13 September 2018 Location: Ivy Ballroom, Sydney More information: www.australiandrinksawards.com.au

Drinks Trade: The Australian Drinks Awards have a number of new awards and a new location this year. What are you hoping to achieve with the changes?

Georgia Lennon: Our goal is to be more inclusive of the industry as a whole. For example, the top 200 brands are now automatically entered in the Brand awards. We’ve also expanded the supply chain awards and added a Contribution to Industry category, which aligns well with the industry’s focus on diversity and inclusion.

DT: Can you walk us through how each of the awards are judged?

GL: The top 200 brands are entered into the brand and marketing awards, which include the Fan Favourite Awards under beer, cider, wine, spirits and RTDs; The Emerging Brand of the Year 38|drinks trade and The Most Distinctive Brand.

The Drinks Association has joined with Thrive Research to create these new award categories, which will be judged via a survey of 4,000 target consumers.

The supplier awards, which include Supplier of the Year, the Supply Chain Partnership Award and Most Improved Supplier of the Year, are determined by Advantage Group’s Industry Trade Benchmark Survey, which provides favourability ratings and qualitative retailer feedback from the off-trade, on-premise, wholesale and outlets channels.

The Contribution to Industry Awards include a Gender Equity Award, Inclusive & Diverse Workplace Award and a Corporate Sustainability Award to recognise the creative and inspiring initiatives undertaken by organisations. These awards are entered via company submission and will be independently judged by panels of experts and industry executives.

DT: For our readers wanting to find out about the best brands to stock, which awards should they look out for?

GL: They should be looking at the Fan Favourite Awards, plus the Emerging Brand of the Year and The Most Distinctive Brand. These awards reflect what consumers are drinking and what their favourite brands are across all the categories. It also gives insight into who is doing a great job at bringing their brand to market.

On- and off-trade who want to know which retailers and brands are putting in the effort to build strong partnerships should definitely look out for the Supplier of the Year, Most Improved Supplier and Supply Chain Partnership Awards.

Georgia Lennon and Michael Ritoli, General Manager Sales, Asahi Premium Beverages - joint 2017 Supplier of the Year

Casella Family Brands, joint 2017 Supplier of the Year

DT: Why has The Drinks Association selected Advantage Australia and Thrive Research as the judging partners of the awards?

GL: Advantage Australia and Thrive Research are the best partners for the awards. They’re independent, transparent and credible.

The Drinks Association has been working with Advantage Group on the Industry Trade Benchmark Survey since 2009. The survey has created a common language between retailers and suppliers that has driven greater collaboration and business alignment for the whole of industry.

Meanwhile, Thrive Insights has extensive expertise in consumer brand tracking, benchmarking, brand positioning, and usage and attitudes research, particularly in the FMCG sector.

DT: This year’s awards will be held at the Ivy Ballroom, Sydney. What are your thoughts on the new venue?

GL: We chose the Ivy because it’s a more intimate location for the awards and mirrors the personality of our industry. It’s an iconic venue for our award recipients to celebrate their achievements in and has been well received by the industry, with tickets selling out within weeks of going on sale.

DT: Are there any other surprises attendees can expect on the night?

GL: We are very excited to have comedian, writer and maths whizz Adam Spencer as MC to entertain attendees and lead us through the night. There will also be some innovative drinks served on arrival.

DT: What are you most looking forward to on the night?

GL: I can’t wait to celebrate all the great things our industry is doing. Aside from their commercial successes, drinks companies have been doing so much for both their people and, more broadly, in the area of corporate social responsibility.

Drinks companies have been thinking really creatively over the past 12 months about ways they can be more inclusive, so we continue to attract and retain great talent. The Australian Drinks Awards is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the work we do as a community, which we don’t talk about enough. I’m really looking forward to highlighting all those great initiatives.