Advantage Australia is tallying the results of its Engagement Program ahead of the announcement of the winner of Supplier of the Year at the 2022 Australian Drinks Awards which will take place at a sold out event in Sydney at the end of July.
Three hundred and seventy guests are booked to join the in-person event at the Ivy Ballroom on Thursday, 28 July. Four Supplier Awards will be announced on the evening, determined by the results of the Advantage Engagement Program. In all, 43 awards will be distributed when the industry gathers to celebrate the achievements of the liquor industry over the past twelve months.
Advantage Australia conducts the survey for the Drinks Association and has done so every year since 2009. The results provide the Drinks Association’s members with favourability ratings and qualitative retailer feedback from the off trade, on premise, wholesale and outlets channels.
“The significant challenges of the last few years have really shown the value of strong and collaborative relationships between trading partners,” said John McLoughlin, CEO of Advantage Global.
“Suppliers who are recognised in these awards are those who have best helped their partners navigate the recent uncertainty as successfully as possible and are now re-establishing strong foundations for building mutual benefit into the future.”
There are four awards in the Supplier category: Supplier of the Year, Most Improved Supplier, Supply Chain Management and Category Management.
"Our research this year has shown that the industry is beginning to move past the focus on operational and short-term issue resolution forced on us through necessity over the last few years, and reprioritising strategic collaboration and execution excellence. We look forward to seeing who will be recognised this year as excelling in these different disciplines," said Steve Andrews, General Manager at Advantage.
Supplier of the Year
Diageo was awarded Supplier of the Year last year as well as in 2020. It also won the Category Management Award last year.
To be named the Supplier of the Year, companies must have the highest “Net Favourable” result from the combined, total retail/wholesale network across all the important aspects of business engagement.
A high Net Favourable result means that the supplier has the biggest difference between having “Promoters” in the industry, or those retailers who rate the supplier as best or better than average, less the “Detractors”, those retailers who rate the supplier as worst or worse than average.
The performance areas that make up the rating are: Business Relationship & Support; Personnel; Category Management; Consumer Marketing Support; Customer Marketing / Promotion Practices; Supply Chain Management.
When it won the Supplier of the Year Award last year, Diageo said:
“We are proud to stand side by side with our extraordinary retailers, pubs, clubs and bars, our friends, the brewers and winemakers of Australia and our magnificent supply chain partners.
“Together, we will keep giving Australians great products and amazing experiences and we will continue to be a significant driver of economic and job activity for our economy. At Diageo, we are always working to support and improve the experience for our customers. We look forward to doing more in the year ahead.”
Most Improved Supplier of the Year
In 2021, Accolade Wines and Australian Vintage Limited made their first appearances in the Supplier Awards. Accolade was named Most Improved Supplier of the Year and went on to be named Endeavour Group’s Large Supplier of the Year in May this year.
Advantage said that Accolade’s performance was “driven by a strong focus on resolution of Supply Chain issues, a more proactive approach to collaboration and establishing a strategic orientation to retailer engagement which has driven a NF33 improvement in overall performance.”
Managing Director, Andrew Clarke who had been in the role for just 18 months at the time, said his supply chain had put customer service first and made proactive customer communication a priority, as well as being agile in adapting to changing consumer-demand.
“We are delighted to receive the recognition from our customers and appreciate the support and feedback we’ve received. I believe we are doing something special here at Accolade Wines and we get to represent some of the best wines and wine brands in the world, which makes our jobs even easier,” he said.
Last year’s award was testimony to the strength of Accolade’s relatively new leadership team, including General Manager of Supply Chain and Operations, ANZ, Joe Russo, Global Chief Supply Chain Officer, Derek Nicol and CEO Robert Foye who was appointed in March 2020.
Of last year’s win, Mr Foye said: “As an executive team, we have focused on strengthening our senior teams and empowering our people. I believe the bench strength we have in our leadership team in Australia and globally is now second to none in the drinks industry. Andrew Clarke has led the ANZ business to significant success and we are determined to continue this journey of improvement. We are committed to the sustainable growth of our business, our people and the industry, and we look forward to more success in the future.”
The Most Improved Supplier award was introduced in 2018 to celebrate suppliers who have successfully set and executed a plan of improvement and been acknowledged by retailers for improving their professionalism and delivery across the entirety of their commercial relationship. This award have been sponsored by ALM since it began.
ALM’s General Manager Retail & Wholesale Operations, John Barakat said, "Every organisation strives for improvement in performance, so it is a real honour to be recognised among your peers as having made the greatest gains.”
For those unable to attend the event, all the results from the Australian Drinks Awards will be published on the Drinks Association website on Friday, 29 July.
Advantage Australia is a Corporate Partner of the Drinks Association.
The Supplier of the Year Award is sponsored by Advantage Australia.
The Most Improved Supplier of the Year is sponsored by ALM.
The Supply Chain of the Year Award is sponsored by GS1.
The Category Management Award is sponsored by BevChain.