By Scott Hadley – Chief Commercial Officer – Alcohol ANZ

2016 is proving to be another exciting year for Asahi Premium Beverages. We acquired popular craft brewer Mountain Goat and the distribution rights for Estrella Damm late last year and have seen great commitment from our customers on these fantastic additions to our portfolio.

Asahi Soukai – our low carb/mid-strength offering, has gone from strength-to-strength since launch last year and is now in the top 20 within the International Beer category. This has contributed to the Asahi master brand experiencing over 40 per cent growth. Fantastic sponsorship opportunities for Asahi this year, such as the Dark MOFO festival in Tasmania and the National Gallery Victoria, continue to drive the growth of this premium brand and the category.

Outside of beer, Somersby cider remains Australia’s No. 1 Cider; Vodka Cruiser continues to lead and drive growth in the Light RTD category; and Woodstock asserts its number 4 ranking in Dark RTD by delivering value growth above the category.

Despite current industry challenges, we are very fortunate to have an offering in segments that are showing growth and now have access to more information and data than ever before. Trends evolve and one trend that will continue to gain pace is the development of Australia’s craft beer market. Craft is the new premium beer in our view and our acquisition of Mountain Goat signals our desire to play a more active role in this category, growing on our footing with Cricketers Arms, which has grown to be a top five player in craft this year; and we are very proud to highlight that both Mountain Goat and Cricketers Arms were extremely successful in the International Beer Awards, held in May.

We will continue to invest in our people, who will be better equipped with the tools and information necessary to work and plan with retailers on driving growth for their business. We will also continue our investment in our brands and NPD for the remainder of 2016 and beyond, with some exciting developments launching soon such as Mist Wood Gin and The Cider Lab.

Building relationships with our key customers is imperative to the success of our business and theirs, and we continue to work closely with them on building strong promotional programs and developing further strategies to drive future growth.

On behalf of Asahi Premium Beverages, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and wish you a prosperous remainder of 2016 and into 2017.