Pernod Ricard Winemakers (PRW) was presented with the inaugural Best Wellbeing Initiative at the 2024 Australian Drinks Awards hosted at the Hilton Sydney on Thursday evening 18 July.
This new award recognises company initiatives prioritising their people's health and wellbeing. It is one of the three Contribution to Industry Awards that were refreshed this year to align with emerging priorities and challenges facing the drinks industry.
PRW’s ‘Responsib’All Day’ 2023 was the winning submission. Traditionally, Responsib’All Day focused on external community support, but in 2023, the company turned inward, prioritising the wellbeing of its employees. Around 900 Australian PRW employees focused on having a day of wellbeing, and engaged in activities such as meditation workshops, health checks and yoga. The initiative aimed to create a ripple effect of positivity and health within the organisation.
Some of the key callouts from the judges for PRW’s submission include:
- Senior leadership was actively involved in the planning and promoting of the initiative to ensure it achieved widespread participation.
- The initiative incorporated multiple wellbeing pillars to address a range of employee needs while linking back to the organisation’s broader business strategy.
- The initiative turned something already familiar ‘inward’ to generate renewed excitement and instil positivity and pride among all staff.
In its submission, PRW said: “The initiative achieved high engagement scores and participants reported positive impacts, including increased motivation, a deeper understanding of the Sustainability & Responsibility roadmap, and a strong sense of pride and satisfaction from participating in the day’s activities.”
The 2024 Best Wellbeing Initiative was proudly BevChain, and company President, Misha Shliapnikoff, presented the award on behalf of the company to PRW on the night in the presence of around 400 attendees.
In his speech, he said: “While all of this year’s finalists demonstrated how their specific wellbeing initiatives were integrated into broader organisational plans, received strong support from their leadership teams, and provided compelling evidence of improved employee wellbeing, there was standout winner among the judging panel.”
“Following this company’s ‘Responsib’All Day’ initiative, 97% of employees felt inspired to improve their wellbeing. And with that, it gives me great pleasure to present the Best Wellbeing Initiative Award to Pernod Ricard Winemakers,” said Shliapnikoff.
Sarah Descher, Head of Communications and S&R at PRW said: “We are very proud to receive this inaugural award for Best Wellbeing Initiative. This particular Responsib’ALL Day event was an important opportunity for our team to stop their daily tasks for a day and focus solely on their own health and wellbeing. Events were organised nationally across Australia, as well as for 19,000 employees around the world, with a bespoke approach taken at each location to ensure the activities met the needs of the team.”
Jacob’s Creek dominates Fan Favourite wines
PRW was also presented with three Fan Favourite Brand Awards, with Jacob’s Creek making history by winning three wine categories for the first time: White Wine, Rosé, and Sparkling Wine. In 2023, the Fan Favourite White Wine was also awarded to Jacob’s Creek; however, the Rosé award went to Squealing Pig, and the Sparkling Wine award went to Chandon.
The company also won the Gaining in Popularity Award for Champagne with G.H. Mumm, which Penfolds x Thienot claimed in 2023.
The wins come just after Pernod Ricard announced on July 17 that it would sell its portfolio of strategic international wines to Australian Wine Holdco Limited (AWL), a consortium of international institutional investors and owner of Accolade Wines.
The transaction includes the sale of a wide portfolio of strongly established international wine brands owned and produced by Pernod Ricard Winemakers from three origins, including Jacob’s Creek, Orlando and St Hugo from Australia, Stoneleigh, Brancott Estate and Church Road from New Zealand and Campo Viejo, Ysios, Tarsus and Azpilicueta from Spain. The business is an integrated platform from vineyard to bottle and includes seven wineries.
According to a statement from Pernod Ricard Winemakers: “Australian Wine Holdco Limited is an ambitious partner fully dedicated to the future success of the wine business. This agreement aims to unite brands, people, expertise, and technology and create a new standalone world-leading wine company into the future.”
Edwina Bartholomew was MC at the 12th annual Australian Drinks Awards, where 48 awards were distributed to recognise achievement and excellence in the drinks industry, including three Contribution to Industry Awards: Best Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiative, Best Wellbeing Initiative, and Best Environmental Sustainability Initiative.
The Drinks Association congratulates its Category One Member, Pernod Ricard Winemakers, on winning the 2024 Best Wellbeing Initiative Award.
BevChain is a Corporate Partner of the Drinks Association.
The Drinks Association would like to extend its thanks to its generous sponsors for this year’s event.
All the winners from the 2024 Australian Drinks Awards are available here:
