Last week, Endeavour Group announced the winners of its inaugural Supplier of the Year Awards program at a gala ceremony in Melbourne, with more than 500 suppliers taking part in the festivities.

“The calibre of winners across a broad spectrum of areas – including sustainability, product development and brand activation – reflects the innovative and creative spirit of the broader drinks industry,” Endeavour Group’s Director – Buying & Merchandising Tim Carroll said.

“After a two year break, it was fantastic to see our supply partners in person. We are already planning next year’s event and we can’t wait to do it all again,” he added.

Endeavour Group’s Supplier of the Year Awards took place at the Timber Yard venue in Port Melbourne, where guests mingled while enjoying food as well as cocktails inspired by iconic ALH hotels around the country, as well as non-alcoholic drinks from Dan Murphy’s ZERO% pop-up bar.

Entertainer Tim Campbell hosted the evening, with Tim Carroll and Endeavour Group Managing Director and CEO Steve Donohue opening and closing the ceremony.

“Our success as a business relies on the outstanding products that producers around the country create and supply us with, and our Supplier of the Year Awards is a great way for us to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of our valued supply partners,” Tim said.

View the whole list of awards below.

Winners of the Endeavour Group Supplier of the Year 2022 Awards Sustainability Award

Winner: Young Henrys for the microalgae project

Verdict: This award recognises a supplier that has sustainability at its heart. Young Henrys partnered with climate change scientists from UTS to develop a microalgae bioreactor that eats up CO2 from the brewing process and churns out fresh oxygen. The craft brewery also distributes spent grain with added algae to farms as cattle feed, which reduces methane burps and flatulence, also resulting in cutting emissions. Young Henrys has proven they have gone above and beyond with research-led innovation to create a more sustainable future for our industry.

Product Innovation of the Year

Winner: Suntory with -196 Double Lemon

Verdict: This award celebrates product innovation, and Suntory has developed a brand new drink by creating and using advanced technology which became the best-selling NPD in Endeavour Group stores over the Christmas season. Suntory super-freezes and crushes whole lemons at -196C degrees, making the citrus freeze-dried and crushed into powder. Powder from a whole lemon then is mixed with shochu, vodka and soda, resulting in an innovative tangy, refreshing and low sugar premix-drink.

Collaboration Award

Winner: Brick Lane Brewing Co

Verdict: This award recognises the true value of collaboration, and Brick Lane Brewing Co. Our judges were impressed by the Brick Lane team and their continued outstanding response to joint projects, partnering on a number of strategic priorities and utilising their flexibility to develop products and solutions. This partnership makes it an absolute pleasure for Endeavour Group to collaborate with Brick Lane, and what we achieve together is testimony to that.

Best Brand Activation of the Year

Winner: Mighty Craft with Better Beer

Verdict: This award recognises a supplier that has achieved an outstanding brand activation across our channels. The digital-first, social media-led approach of Mighty Craft’s Better Beer launch made this brand ‘lager-than-life’ in record time. Better Beer is the brainchild of social media influencers The Inspired Unemployed who have more than 2.5 million loyal followers, and the duo collaborated with Endeavour Group in creating content for digital and social media platforms to support the launch. This activation resulted in the biggest new beer brand launch across Endeavour Group since 2014.

Supply Chain Award

Winner: Accolade Wines

Verdict: This award recognises the supplier that has demonstrated the agility and ability to problem solve and innovate in partnership with us across the supply chain. Like no year before, 2021 produced a spotlight on supply chain management. Building resilience into the supply chain and partnering with us through examples such as fulfilled by endeavour, Accolade showed great capacity to persist, adapt and transform in the face of change.

Trend Leader of the Year

Winner: Basic Brands & Co

Verdict: This award recognises a true industry leader that demonstrates an entrepreneurial spirit to trends. Basic Brands & Co has led the pack through its innovative Boxtails range as a response to the rising at-home cocktail trend. Not only has Boxtails helped change the mindset of customers around cask products, but the pre-batched cocktails are 99% sugar free, made from real juice, lower in alcohol and come in 100% recyclable packaging.

Account Team of the Year

Winner: Carlton & United Breweries

Verdict: This award celebrates an account team that has a proven record of collaboration, a passion for meeting the needs of customers, and metrics demonstrating the value of the partnership. The CUB account team have shown exceptional ways of working by seeking to understand our business, complex issues and work through best in class solutions to uncomplicate the complicated.

Digital Partner of the Year

Winner: Diageo Australia

Verdict: This award celebrates a supplier that embraces best practice through their understanding of the world of e-commerce. Diageo Australia is consistently approaching campaigns with a digital-first mindset, and as a result, has an outstanding digital presence across Endeavour Group. We applaud Diageo Australia for taking a proactive approach and knowing what experiences our customers are looking for when they interact with our digital platforms.

Local Product of the Year

Winner: Billson’s Vodka with Portello

Verdict: This award recognises an outstanding Australian product that resonates with our customers and communities. Billson’s Vodka with Portello is an exciting drink that captures the hearts of our customers. The team at Billson’s have invested so much into the brand, as well as the town of Beechworth in Victoria, creating jobs via the infrastructure to support production at scale, as well as the wonderful hospitality experiences available onsite and in town. They truly embody what it takes to be our inaugural Local Product award winner.

Exclusive Product of the Year

Winner: Better Beer

Verdict: This award celebrates a successful exclusive product that meets a customer’s needs. Consumers are continuously seeking options that are better for them, including products with lower carb and calories, and Mighty Craft noticed a significant gap in the beer category for zero carb beer, with less calories and that tastes great. Better Beer has been the biggest new beer brand launch since 2014, and sold out in many stores after just three days after launch.

Small Supplier of the Year

Winner: Billson’s

Verdict: We are extremely proud to award Billson’s our Small Supplier of the Year for 2021, and are excited to see what is to come from a brand that inspired customer loyalty right from the start. We hear often that the team at Billson’s are confident they haven’t created their best flavour yet, and with the way Fruit Tangle and Fairy Floss resonate with our customers, we are looking forward to seeing what the future holds!

Large Supplier of the Year

Winner: Accolade Wines

Verdict: As the signature award of the program, this award celebrates an exemplary partner who has achieved over and above expectations resulting from their collaborative ways of working and shared values. Accolade Wines has worked with Endeavour Group on strategic initiatives to innovate in the wine category, including exploring new formats, brands, premium customer experiences and digital campaigns to meet the changing needs of customers.