It’s been at least six years since Asahi Premium Beverages has attended the Australian Liquor Industry Awards (ALIA) and gone home empty handed.
For the last six years Asahi has taken out the Best International Beer category and for the last three years it has also been named the Off-Premise Supplier of the Year.
Asahi leverages its Japanese provenance in its marketing campaigns, a strategy that GM Sales, Michael Ritoli, says sets the brand apart.
“In a category often diluted with stories of mateship and sport, Asahi Super Dry continues to create new waves of energy to break through to premium beer drinkers by leveraging a distinctive story of provenance and personal discovery. Japan is an exciting and enigmatic place where the traditional and technological collide. This is our inspiration for the ‘world of Asahi’,” he says.
“It is great to be recognised for all the hard work that we put into the Asahi brand and we are humbled to have taken this award home six years in a row. There are some great international brands and for Asahi to have won this so many times reinforces that the direction we are taking this brand is working.”
But the real highlight for Ritoli and a moment that he says has been the “highlight of 2019” was winning Off-Premise Supplier of the Year for the third year straight. As the old saying goes, “A company is only as strong as its people”. And this award applauds just that – the strength of the Asahi team.
“This award is all about recognising the great people that work at Asahi. The team at Asahi is passionate about our brands and our customers and they work extremely hard to ensure that we deliver fantastic customer service and exceptional brand experiences. We have a great culture at Asahi and winning this award three years in a row has been our highlight of 2019.”
It’s been a big year for Asahi. In August the Japanese brewing giant confirmed one of the longest-running rumours in the industry when it announced it had acquired 100 per cent of Brisbane-based craft brewer, Green Beacon Brewing Co.
This news came just one month after Asahi agreed a $16bn deal to buy Carlton & United Breweries, a deal which is expected to be completed early next year, subject to the ACCC’s approval.