Asahi Beverages, Coles Liquor and Endeavour Drinks Group (EDG), have all resigned their memberships of Alcohol Beverages Australia (ABA), saying they will maintain industry presence through other associations.
Both Coles and EDG told The Shout that as they were members of Retail Drinks Australia, which is also a member of ABA, there was a duplication in memberships and that Retail Drinks would represent them with ABA.
A spokesperson for EDG, told The Shout: “We confirm that Endeavour Group has resigned its membership from Alcohol Beverages Australia. With Retail Drinks Australia (as our retail industry representative) being an ABA member as well, there is a duplication of services, resources and investment which we needed to address.
“This decision has not been made lightly and has been a result of identifying the new resources and memberships required to meet the new requirements of Endeavour Group as a newly listed entity.
“Endeavour Group proudly continues its membership of DrinkWise, ABAC, AHA, Retail Drinks Australia, Drinks Association, UN Global Compact and the Wine Industry Sustainable Packaging Alliance, amongst many more.”
A Coles Liquor spokesperson said: “We are members of Retail Drinks Australia, who are an active member of Alcohol Beverages Australia and will continue to represent us on that body.”
Asahi Beverages also told The Shout that while it was resigning from ABA, the company would remain an active part of the industry.
An Asahi Beverages spokesman said: “Asahi Beverages has decided to discontinue our membership of ABA. We’ll be focussing instead on our other very extensive and diverse industry partnerships.”
While disappointed the three companies had resigned, Andrew Wilsmore, the CEO of ABA told The Shout that the association would continue its hard work representing its remaining members.
“We acknowledge and respect their decision, and we will continue to focus on representing our membership accordingly,” he said.
All three companies tendered their resignations on the same day last week, and will be subject to a 12 month notice period.