In addition to the Fan Favourite Brand Awards covered yesterday in this Drinks Trade article, the 2024 Australian Drinks Awards also recognised the drinks brands currently Gaining in Popularity in Australia’s drinks industry.
“The Gaining in Popularity award is always intriguing, spotlighting emerging and interesting brands,” said Chris Papadimitriou, Director of Thrive Insights. The Drinks Association worked alongside Thrive Insights to determine the 2024 Brand Awards winners.
“This year is no exception, with several exciting brands winning in this category.”
Gaining in Popularity – Beer & Cider
Starting with beer, Tooheys New was recognised as the Classic Beer Brand currently gaining in popularity, a notable feat for a brand with such established heritage. Drinks Trade reached out to Lion’s Connections Director Chris Allan to discuss the award: “it’s so exciting, I mean you’ve got to also remember it’s 150 odd years old this brand so to receive an accolade like gaining in popularity kind of warms the heart,” said Allan.
Next up, Better Beer received the accolade of Gaining in Popularity for Contemporary Beer.
“Better Beer: it’s all about lower carb, much better for you,” said Thrive Insight’s Chris Papadimitriou.
“It’s got that retro packaging, so you can see it’s hitting that consumer segment. People feel that this brand is gaining in popularity.”
The Premium Beer currently gaining in popularity is Asahi Super Dry, Japan’s number one beer. Yesterday, Carlton & United Breweries’ Head of Beer Marketing told Drinks Trade that Asahi is “growing at 12% in the marketplace in value compared to 2.7% for total beer.
“Japan is consistently in the top three travel destinations and cultural interests for Australia… so it’s definitely on trend, which is part of the reason Asahi is growing,” said Ben Eyles.
Chris Papadimitriou added that, “in terms of gaining popularity, the premium category has been dominated by Japanese beers over time.
The final category, Craft Beer, was taken out by Good Drinks Australia’s Gage Roads Hazy As.
“In the craft category, the Hazy As from Gage Roads won; and it’s interesting because Balter’s Easy Hazy won last year,” said Papadimitriou.
Great Northern Zero emerged as the Non-Alcoholic beer gaining in popularity for the year taking over from the Award’s inaugural winner, Gage Road’s Yeah Buoy Non Alcohol, which won in 2023. Meanwhile, Good Drinks Australia picked up a new trophy for Magners, the Cider that most gained in popularity over the past year. Most consumers appreciated the drier profile of the Magners Irish Cider brand. One described it as “not too sweet, has a clean crisp taste and was the first cider I drank and like that most pubs have it in tap.” Another wrote, “isn’t too sweet, it’s very traditional and it reminds me of my time when I was younger in the UK.”
Gaining in Popularity – RTD & Seltzer
While the Fan Favourite RTD & Seltzer brands tend to remain relatively stable year on year, the Gaining in Popularity brand shines a light on a diverse selection of emerging trends and products. For 2024, Southtrade’s Fireball with Apple was the Dark Spirit RTD that most gained in popularity. CUB’s Hard Rated was the White Spirit RTD that came out on top, and Gravity was the Seltzer brand that saw the greatest change in popularity.
Regarding Fireball with Apple, one consumer described it as “a unique drink and totally unlike anything else I’ve ever had.”
When asked about Hard Rated, consumers described it as “easy to drink” and “just like the non alcoholic version.” Hard Rated also recently topped the 2024 Drinks Trade Hottest Brands List, a report conducted in partnership with Circana that compares the total amount of cumulative revenue generated by Australia’s top drinks brands throughout 2023.
Naked Life Mojito was recognised as the Non-Alcoholic RTD most gaining in popularity.
Gaining in Popularity – Spirits
Similar to the RTD category, the Gaining in Popularity Spirits Awards offers valuable insight into emerging trends and categories that remain overshadowed by the year-on-year top performers. For Dark Spirits, Sheep Dog Peanut Butter Whiskey was the top performer, following on from last year’s winner Yamazaki, a Japanese whisky, and 2022 winner 23rd Street, an Australian whiskey. The success of Sheep Dog Peanut Butter Whiskey, imported into Australia by Southtrade, reflects recent investments into the category by Pernod Ricard.
The white spirit currently gaining in popularity is Ampersand Vodka, which was fully acquired by Australian Beer Co towards the end of last year.
36 Short’s Limoncello clenched the title of Aperitifs/Liqueurs Gaining in Popularity and Naked Life’s London Dry was named the Non-Alcoholic spirit currently growing in popularity, backing up their equivalent win in RTD.
Gaining in Popularity – Wine
The winner of the Red Wine Gaining in Popularity title was Rathbone Wine Group’s Little Yering. Following this, Cloudy Bay won the white wine award, Collector Wines won in rosé, and 19 Crimes won for sparkling wine.
According to Papadimitriou, TWE’s 19 Crimes is “a marketing machine. This year, they’ve stood out with their sparkling offering. Cali Gold is very distinctive with that gold label featuring Snoop Dogg. He is an iconic artist and generates genuine brand interest. He’s been around for so many years that young people know him, but also connects with older consumers.”
The coveted title of Champagne brand currently Gaining in Popularity was claimed by Pernod Ricard’s G.H. Mumm.
Backing up its Non-Alcoholic Fan Favourite win, Brown Brothers’ also took home the title of Non-Alcoholic Wine Gaining in Popularity for its Prosecco Zero.
Papadimitriou said, “Brown Brothers’ Prosecco Zero has won it this year in terms of gaining in popularity. The Moscato was the non-alc wine gaining in popularity last year, but that actually got the fan favourite win this year. Brown Brother’s scored a double win for non-alcohol wine.”
//
The 2024 Gaining in Popularity Brand Awards was sponsored by StayinFront Group. Marketing Director Archel Aguilar conveyed their enthusiasm, saying,“ StayinFront is proud to sponsor the Gaining in Popularity Brand Awards at the 2024 Australian Drinks Awards. Our dedication to providing innovative Retail Optimised solutions to our clients perfectly aligns with celebrating brands that excel in engaging consumers in a competitive market. We’re thrilled to recognise the innovation and excitement driving both new and established brands in the drinks industry.”
For more insights from the 2024 Australian Drinks Awards, read the following articles:
Australian Drinks Awards 2024: Australia’s favourite brands, as voted by consumers
Head of Beer Marketing at CUB discusses trends behind Brand Award winning brews
Interview: Why Lion won two Contribution to Industry awards at the Australian Drinks Awards 2024
Australian Drinks Awards 2024: the key trends shaping Australia’s leading brands
Australian Drinks Awards 2024: Two major wins in two days for the Blues
