By Nancy Truscott, Director of Grocery & Liquor Programs at Shopper Tracker Australia Shopper seems to be the new ‘it’ word as companies start to recognise the importance of understanding the person who is making the decision on whether to buy or not. Investment in shopper marketing has more than doubled in most companies in the last five years. Suppliers are seeing the benefits of this investment th…

Tom Nichol, Tanqueray Master Distiller, has been awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Grand Rectifier of The Gin Guild, Christopher Hayman. Tom received the prestigious accolade at the Gin Industry’s Annual Dinner. The award also recognises Tom’s retirement from his position as Master Distiller of Tanqueray after 42 years of service and dedication to the distilling and gin industries, with a car…

This June, a group of more than 20 Greek winemakers will arrive in Australia for two weekends of events in Sydney and Melbourne to showcase the newest wines from the country. From the oldest winegrowing region in the world, these winemakers will introduce their wines through a series of trade tastings, dinners and masterclasses, previously only ever held in the US and Canada. There will be over 90 wines t…

As part of the 2015 Federal Budget announced last week, $110,000 in funding has been given to the Hunter Valley after the region was impacted by significant storms in April. The funding will be given to the Hunter Valley Winter Campaign through the NSW Government’s Hunter Storm Recovery Plan. The campaign will help the region’s promotional and tourism efforts, including the Hunter Valley Wine & Food M…

We’ve gone through the 2015 Budget and outlined the key areas for businesses within the drinks and hospitality industries. Refer below to see what the most important sections of the 2015 Budget are for you and what they mean for your business with regards to small business and employment, farming and agriculture, and foreign affairs and trade. 2015 Federal Budget Overview Funding has been given to smal…

According to figures newly released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Australians are drinking less alcohol than anytime in the previous 50 years. Louise gates from the ABS said: “Across all alcoholic beverages, there were 9.7 litres of pure alcohol available for consumption in 2013-14 for every person in Australia aged 15 years and over. This is the lowest level since the early 1960s. “The pa…

Since the formation of the first Women in drinks Board earlier in March, Board members have been working closely to build an agreed Charter for the body. The newly formalised Charter will set the Women in drinks’ Purpose, Vision, Objectives and annual calendar. The Women in drinks community was founded in 2012 by the drinks association (publisher of drinks bulletin) to create a community among women wor…

Mamasita is one of three bars currently representing Victoria in Tequila Herradura’s Mi Casa Su Casa activation in Australia. As part of the activation, later this year Mamasita will join 11 other venues as an exclusive partner of a barrel of Herradura “Double Barrel” Reposado Tequila. The barrel, named the ‘Australia Casa Select’ was selected by participating venues earlier in April, when they met with H…

Today, April 17, cities and nations across the globe will raise their glass to malbec – the world’s most popular varietal, as part of Malbec World Day (MWD) celebrations. MWD is an initiative run by Wines of Argentina, used to promote the varietal’s existence on the international wine stage and pay homage to malbec’s popularity. MWD engages with retailers and restaurateurs through a number of activations,…

In partnership with 13 exhibitors, Wine Australia impressed at the China Food and Drinks Fair, held in Chengdu on 26–28 March 2015. The 150m 2 Wine Australia Pavilion presented over 100 fine wines from 40 brands from a near 20 wine regions across five states. Event organisers estimated that 100,000 people attended the fair – up 15 per cent on last year. During the three-day fair, Wine Australia’s certifi…