We find ourselves at the end of another year that was certainly as challenging as last and which I am sure we can all agree we are ready to farewell.
That being said, there have been some real highlights throughout the year. We are now all highly skilled at working from home and seeing ourselves on a screen. Businesses have been extremely productive, they have prioritised the health and wellbeing of their people and we have seen great industry initiatives to support our on-premise partners. We’ve also seen tremendous strides from the giants of our industry as they continue to work to become more sustainable.
We know that this summer will see people gather both on-premise and at home in a big way as we re-connect and celebrate, a sentiment which bodes very well for the industry as a whole.
All of the Drinks Association’s events had to migrate to a virtual format this year starting with the Embrace Difference Council’s International Women’s Day event in March. This year Dr Julia Baird presented a keynote speech on the science of human interactions with nature and the benefits of these interactions for our physical and mental health, improving our sense of connectedness, resilience and strength. Dr Baird’s presentation was followed by a virtual panel skilfully managed by the Create Difference workstream who brought together Treasury Wine Estate’s George Samios to facilitate a panel comprised of Eveline Albarracin, Katie Hodgson and Peter Hurley who spoke about inclusivity and diversity within their organisations.
In her capacity as Embrace Difference Council State Chapter lead, Emma Baldwin produced the August webinar, Health and Wellbeing in Today’s World, which was attended by almost 300 people. “It’s okay not to be okay” was just one of the reassuring messages to emerge from the presentation from Jeff McKenzie, Genevieve Hawkins and Heather Williams who shared their insights, experience and guidance.
The See Difference workstream has now completed all work on the first iteration of the Diversity and Inclusion Toolkit. Its completion is in advance of the 2022 Scorecard being released to member organisations in February. Where the Scorecard allows member companies to benchmark their status within the context of the industry, the Toolkit serves to support members of the Drinks Association to improve diversity and inclusion within their organisation. It gives
I strongly encourage member companies to take advantage of these best practice resources to advance their businesses further along the D&I curve. There remains much work to be done and room for improvement.
Welcome to our new Embrace Difference Council Chair, Chris Shaw from Diageo as well as to Stephanie Shedden from Campari who has stepped in to lead the Create Difference workstream.
It was the fifth year that Serendis have run the Drinks Association’s annual Inclusive Leadership Program and while it launched in Sydney with an in-person event, it quickly moved to a virtual format again this year. This year 23 pairs of mentees and mentors participated in the program and all agreed that in a year of such isolation, the opportunity to step away to reflect and think strategically was highly beneficial.
The engagement of industry participants across the Drinks Association Forums has also been a real highlight as we continued to check in and support each other via Teams, Zoom and over the phone.
The Australian Drinks Awards were split up across the year. The Supplier of the Year Awards were presented virtually in August to coincide with the Advantage Engagement Survey Program and the brand awards were announced in November following the decision to cancel the in-person event. The 2021 Contribution to Industry Awards will be presented at the International Women’s Day presentation in March next year.
A sincere thank you to our Board,Category One members, Corporate and Commercial Partners and Associate members for their ongoing support of the Drinks Association and contribution to our great industry.
Our industry is unique with the Drinks Association operating as an umbrella to facilitate cross industry dialogue and connection. With the support and guidance of our Chair, Ralph Dunning, the Executive Board and the full Board, the Drinks Association continues to successfully provide an environment for our industry, our members and our people to flourish.
The Drinks Association offices will be closed from 5.00pm, Wednesday, 22 December opening on Wednesday, 5 January, 2022.
I hope you all have a wonderful and safe festive season re-connecting with friends and family. Let’s hope for a less disrupted, and a happier and healthier 2022.
Georgia Lennon - CEO