CEO of ILLVA, Augusto Reina Disaronno, Italy’s most famous liqueur, has released its first new product in 500 years. Disaronno Riserva – a luxury and innovative blend of Disaronno and Scotch whisky – landed in Australia just this week with distributor, Spirits Platform , and is set to take consumers’ experience of the original amaretto liqueur to new heights. The blend has been aged in vintage wine barr…

The latest figures from IRI (to 01/05/16) shows the top performing – and underperforming – categories in the Australian off-premise right now. Leading the market is beer, in particular Full-Strength beer, which currently represents 32.7 per cent of the total liquor sold in the off-premise. Shortly behind beer in terms of value is wine, accounting for $4,171,977 of the total industry’s dollars, which is be…

The name ‘megabrand’ has an uneasy positioning in the alcoholic beverage market, and while many look on with envy at brands holding market leading positions, a mixture of Australia’s infamous tall poppy syndrome and nationals choosing the best known and most loved brands to lead on price with can cause even the world’s largest brands to feel the pinch. That being said, when a leader gets behind its own ca…

Rebekah Richardson and Brian Walsh have joined the Advisory Board of the Australian Women in Wine Awards (AWIWA). Richardson comes from Pernod Ricard Winemakers where she is Head of the White, Sparkling and Rosé portfolio, while Walsh joins from Wine Australia where he is Chair. Both new members will help oversee and guide the direction of AWIWA, which is now entering its second year. “I have been in the …

Both the owner and licensee of Kings Cross nightclub Dreamgirls have been convicted for operating an unlicensed bar on the premises. Just two months ago media reported that the club had been  forced to close after officers from Liquor & Gaming NSW and Police found that drugs were being sold by the venue. Consequently Dreamgirls’ surrendered its liquor licence and Michael Frank Amante and David Wilhel…

The NSW Government’s announcement of the introduction of a 10 cent refund container deposit scheme in the state has raised concerns for the drinks industry this week. On Monday, Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) responded with the release of an ASX announcement to reassure its investors that the scheme would not have any initial impact on the company’s financials. The Australian Food & Grocery Council (AFGC) als…

The Government of Western Australia has allocated $30 million in funding in the 2016-17 State Budget to help bring in more tourism to WA. The funding will go to businesses, sporting and entertainment events, while an extra $1 million will be given to promote and expand Chinese New Year in the state, in the hope of building further links with China as well as attracting additional visitors. “An extra $19 m…

By Mal Higgs, Project Manager for the ALSA Retail Insights  Project, www.alsaretailinsights.com.au In an extremely competitive retail environment like the liquor industry, it is often assumed that market ‘forces’ determine retailers’ gross profit margins. It is also assumed that the trade considers newspaper advertising of liquor products as the ‘official’ market price for a product or category of produc…

The Singapore extension of the highly regarded Dusseldorf based ProWein exhibition launched last week in conjunction with Food & Hotel Asia 2016, delivering large visitor numbers from trade delegations from 71 countries. Ashley Pini attended the conference, training sessions and the trade exhibition reporting for drinks trade . It’s day three of the ProWine Asia 2016 and the 6,000 th visitor has pa…

Findings released in a new report by the Australian Liquor Stores Association (ALSA) and IRI (formerly IRI-Aztec) show positive signs for the industry. The 2016 ‘Australian Retail Liquor State of the Industry Report’ shows growth across all liquor categories in the off-premise, with even the RTD/RTS category in growth. According to Hugh Edwards-Neil, Channel Development Manager at IRI Australia, total liq…