Melbourne-based hospitality group, Dixon Hospitality, has announced its acquisition of three iconic Sydney venues from entrepreneur James Wirth’s Drink’n’Dine group. The acquisition includes The Oxford Tavern in Petersham, The Forresters in Surry Hills and The Norfolk in Redfern, bringing the total number of venues under Dixon Hospitality up to 28. The acquisition also sees the family owned company enter …

Coopers and its distribution business Premium Beverages have created what they’re calling “some of the best jobs in Australia”. These new roles will open up the opportunity for a lucky few to be ‘beer ambassadors’ for the company. As ambassadors, each will responsible for meeting with customers, consumers, hoteliers, restaurateurs and bar staff around Australia to share and talk all about beer. They will …

From February, Sydney’s famous The Island Bar will relocate, leaving behind its current location on the iconic Cockatoo Island. Owners Marco Faraone and Mike Edkins decided to make the move after experiencing difficulties with coming to an agreement with Sydney Harbour Federation Trust to renew their lease. The Island Bar has been home to Cockatoo Island for the past five summers and seen some 350,000 vis…

Diageo Australia has launched a new responsible drinking campaign that tells consumers to ‘Know Your Standards’. The campaign will be displayed through high impact posters, drink coasters and digital screens in pubs, bars and clubs in Sydney’s CBD and parts of Queensland from Christmas. The aim of the campaign is to help young adults calculate the level of alcohol in their drink of choice. To do so, campa…

The Liquor Stores Association NSW (LSA) has elected its new board members for 2015-16. The members were named at the association’s AGM on Tuesday, when industry stalwart, Michael David, announced he would be resigning from the Board of Management. Mr. David has been on the board for over 30 years, joining in the early 1980s after he opened Elizabeth Bay Cellars, which he owns and operates today. Mr. David…

The Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing has launched a new online contact details form , which will allow liquor licence holders to update their contact details via  OLGR’s website. From next year, OLGR will also begin sending liquor licence fee notices by mail, email and SMS, meaning that holders need to ensure their details are up to date – a requirement under the Liquor Act 2007. OLGR says the form wi…

Consumers have named First Choice Liquor – Liquor Store of the Month in Roy Morgan’s latest Customer Satisfaction Awards. The Coles owned banner placed higher than Dan Murphy’s, The Bottle-O, IGA Liquor and BWS in terms of customer satisfaction, receiving an overall 92 per cent score – up from 88 per cent in January. According to the global market research company, consumers were most satisfied with 1st C…

Supply chain and barcode solution, GS1 Australia has successfully migrated existing GS1net user organisations and product catalogues into a new GS1 Australia National Product Catalogue platform. The new platform will provide existing users from multiple sectors, including grocery and liquor, with a ‘next generation’ data synchronisation solution, comprising 36,700 trading partners and 28.6 million registe…

A Lidcombe restaurant has had its liquor licence suspended for serving alcohol to minors. Palbok BBQ Pty Ltd, trading as Palbok House, is now the fourth venue in NSW to have had its licence suspended this year. According to the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR), police had observed a group of teenagers in Palbok House’s outdoor dining area consuming soju, a Korean spirit. When the group was asked…

UK wine writer for The Sunday Express and publisher of leading wine website WineAnorak.com, Jamie Goode, landed in Australia this week to embark on a tour of Australia’s wine industry. During his ten day stay, which began on Thursday (26 November), Goode will visit Sydney’s Rootstock festival as well as producers in the south of Australia. Goode’s trip is being sponsored by Wine Australia, who is hoping t…