In the 2022 National Liquor News Industry Leaders Forum, Maurice Melis, CEO of Global Endeavours Australia, discusses plans for a positive second year in the country.

It’s been another tumultuous year for the liquor industry in Australia, but ultimately a very positive one for new entrant to the distribution game, Global Endeavours Australia (GEA).

Part of New Zealand manufacturer of food and beverage products, Global Endeavours Group, GEA was established in April 2021 to leverage NZ infrastructure and brands to deliver rapid growth across the Australian marketplace. Currently the group has two bottling plants based in Tauranga, NZ, delivering spirit-based and RTD products.

CEO of GEA, Maurice Melis, said it’s been a good start to the brand in Australia so far, with encouraging signs for the future.

“The first six months were very interesting indeed, with four of those spent in lockdown! Notwithstanding, we gained some great momentum and secured ranging of our key liquor brands in major retailers. We also received lots of encouraging feedback about our liquor portfolio, so we now need to build on that positive engagement,” Melis told National Liquor News.

The first focus point for this positive engagement in 2022 will be around the Batched Premium Cocktails brand, which includes both 700ml bottled cocktails and also a line of canned cocktail RTDs, available in a range of flavours.

“Our immediate focus is ensuring we launch our hero brand, Batched Premium Cocktails, successfully and grow the brand more broadly across the Australian market. This is a unique proposition, with amazing quality and taste credentials, plus interesting flavours,” Melis said.

This hero brand will introduce GEA to the Australian off-premise industry, an area which will be key for the distributor in the year ahead. The Australian portfolio curation has been designed specifically with local retailers and shoppers in mind, to provide a strong offering that holds a great value to the market.

Melis said: “Over the next 12 months our aim is to better penetrate the independent channel with our brands, so we are open to opportunities that will assist in achieving that. We have been very specific in our brand portfolio selection and what we take to market over the next 12 months to ensure it works for consumers and retailers.

“As a group we are still relatively small compared with the big multinationals. We have some unique brands, and we are enthusiastic and flexible in how we work with retailers. It’s about using these characteristics to partner with retailers to ensure we’re delivering the best value and engagement for their customers.”

GEA may still be fairly fresh to Australia, but the company’s enthusiasm for the market abounds, as does its commitment to supporting its customers.

“We’re very excited about the year ahead and would really like to build our presence and portfolio across all retail outlets. We’re happy to do that in whatever form best suits our customers and always open to a chat,” Melis said.

Read more from the 2022 National Liquor News Leaders Forum here.

Brydie Allen

Brydie Allen is the Editor of National Liquor News. She has been with Food and Beverage Media since 2019, when she joined the company as a journalist across National Liquor News, Bars & Clubs, The...

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