We may be coming to the end of Movember, but Coles Liquor is keeping men’s health on the agenda all year round, thanks to an incredibly successful partnership with Choosy Beggars.
Coles Liquor has held a partnership with the Margaret River wine label for the past two years. Every sales of a Choosy Beggars wine in this time sees a 50c donation to men’s health charity, the Movember Foundation, which is behind the annual month-long fundraising event by the same name. These donations apply all year round, with the partnership raising close to $170,000 raised for the charity so far.
Although the donation applies to all Choosy Beggars wine styles, the initiative and the conversation around it is being largely driven by the rosé, partly because of the moustache on its label.
James Vercoe, Sourcing Manager for Wine at Coles Liquor, said: “The Choosy Beggars collection, which is exclusive to Coles Liquor, already existed but we saw an opportunity to raise funds for men’s health featuring the very popular Choosy Beggars rosé.
“Considering that Australian vineyards are located in rural and country areas with the high proportion of male workers in the industry, it was the perfect opportunity to talk about and support men’s health.
“We want to make sure that men’s health stays on the agenda all year long. By running the partnership for the full 52 weeks of the year, it also allows us to raise more money for donations and make a greater impact.”
The continued success of the campaign is helped along by the widening appeal of rosé in Australia. Choosy Beggars winemaker, Julian Langworthy, said this creates a bigger impact for the initiative.
“Our rosé is the most popular variety from the Choosy Beggars range and a hugely sought-after style, but it’s the stereotype that rosé is a ‘feminine’ style that makes this wine an agent for change,” Langworthy said.
“It’s all about challenging stereotypes and expectations about what masculinity means, whether that’s in relation to talking about your health and mental well-being or enjoying a pink drink.
“I’m based in Margaret River, in the heart of this beautiful wine-growing country but I know mental health for men is still such a big issue across regional areas in Australia. I think we’re making progress and events like Movember really are a catalyst for men to open up about what they’re experiencing, it starts a conversation.”
It’s an incredibly timely conversation to have, according to research from the Movember Foundation. This found that 25 per cent of men globally reported their mental health deteriorated during the pandemic, yet only 16 per cent had spoken to a health care provider about it.
In addition to the wine partnership, Coles has been raising money through the supermarket side of the business too, with all donations going directly to Movember to address mental health, suicide prevention, prostrate cancer and testicular cancer.