Australian Liquor Marketers (ALM) has held its inaugural On-Premise Supplier Awards at the Ivy Sunroom in Sydney, with Lion and Accolade Wines taking home the top awards.
ALM CEO Kylie Wallbridge welcomed guests on the night, explaining that the awards are intended to celebrate the suppliers who are supporting the on-premise during a variable time for the hospitality industry.
“This is the first of hopefully many fantastic evenings celebrating the richness of the on-premise and the role that you as suppliers and your brands play in keeping the channel and the business vibrant,” Wallbridge said.
“I know that all of you are working with customers across the country, and I think the best way it’s been described to me in the last week is that it’s lumpy out there. There’s pockets of businesses doing really well, and there’s also some incredible hospitality businesses that are going through some challenging times. It’s doubly important that we celebrate our collective efforts at these times, because your inputs and your brands are actually really important to them, keeping traffic into their venues and keeping consumers engaged across the country”.
The first award of the night was the People’s Award Supplier of the Year, which Shawn Elliott, ALM National Category Manager, On-Premise, explained reflects the opinion of ALM’s on-premise customers.
“We’ve created a new system within our organisation called One Stop Shop. It’s an amazing tool that allows us to consolidate everything into one location. We popped this recognition out for our customers to decide who they thought was doing it best and brightest in the on-trade. It wasn’t just a popularity choice. We asked them to answer questions around customer service, ranging NPD and a few others, and we consolidated the vote,” he said.
Four finalists were named; Carlton & United Breweries, Lion, Diageo, and Good Drinks Australia, and Lion ultimately took home the title of People’s Award Supplier of the Year.
Kerry Appathurai, Australian Sales Director for Lion, expressed her excitement at winning the inaugural award, and thanked ALM for its support and partnership.
“To win the first one of these is really exciting. Thank you so much, and thank you for having us all here today. We’re really proud of our partnership with both the ALM business and also all of our on-premise customers. This is such an important industry, and we’re really hoping that this summer will bring the sunshine and we can start to see on-premise continue to thrive. I think every single person in this room plays a role in that. This award is for the incredible Lion on-premise and ALM team,” she said.
The next award was the ALM On-Premise Supplier of the Year, chosen by the ALM team, and from the finalists of Campari, Carlton & United Breweries, Brown-Forman, and Accolade Wines, Accolade Wines received the award.
Elliott said that Accolade is a valued partner of ALM.
“Even as our channel faces challenges, Accolade has grown through our partnership, embracing our business model and key strategic pillars of one invoice and one delivery. Additionally, Accolade has delivered unique activations within the ALM network and has supported our channel segmentation, bringing their brands to life through creating memorable experiences for our customers. We’re deeply valued within our partnership with Accolade, and we look forward to more successes,” he said.
Finally, ALM turned the honours to its staff with the Regional On-Premise Brand Development Manager (BDM) of the Year and National On-Premise BDM of the Year awards. The regional winner for Western and Central Region was Carly Higgins, Natasha Schwarz took home the title for Southern Region, Mel Lomas winning for Queensland, and Jacqueline Hamilton receiving the award for Eastern Region. The national award was chosen from among the four regional winners, with Hamilton ultimately receiving the title of National On-Premise BDM of the Year.
Hamilton thanked her team and the suppliers for allowing her to excel in her role.
“About two years ago, Shawn phoned me and said, ‘Do you want to come work at ALM?’ I was working in philanthropy at the time, and oh my goodness, am I glad I came back into this industry. I want to thank my amazing team of Lisa, Camilla, Fi, and Darren. Thank you for your support and thank you to the suppliers. The support I get from suppliers in my region, which is the Hunter, Newcastle, and Central Coast, is unbelievable. We collaborate, we work really well together, and the growth we’ve had in the last year is amazing. I’m really looking forward to doing it all again,” she said.