Lion is celebrating a double win at the Australian Drinks Awards 2019, taking out Supplier of the Year and the Supply Chain Management award.
The winners of the Supplier category at the Awards are chosen via the annual Advantage Trade Benchmark Survey. The Drinks Association has been commissioning Advantage Australia for the past decade to conduct the annual survey, which provides members with favourability ratings and qualitative retailer feedback from the off trade, on premise, wholesale and outlets channels.
"Congratulations to Lion for taking out the prestigious Drinks Association Supplier of the Year award," said Steve Andrews, Advantage General Manager VIC/QLD/SA.
"Lion has been placed in the top three for this award every year for the last five years, an incredible consistency. One of Lion’s key strengths is in the important area of supply chain management, and we congratulate them on also collecting the Drinks Association Supply Chain Management award this year, making it back to back wins for this award for Lion. Well done Lion on again delivering excellence in retailer engagement.
“We know that good business relationships are at the heart of good business.These awards recognise those suppliers with best-in-class business relationships, who are notable for their collaborative planning, consistency of delivering on commitments and proactivity in looking for ways to support their retail partners’ strategies."
Lion accepted its two Supplier awards during a glittering ceremony held at Doltone House, Jones Bay Wharf, Sydney, on August 22.
National Sales Director Mark Powell said: "Thank you to our customers for the vote of confidence. We appreciate all the feedback we get from the Advantage survey and value it."
He also congratulated the drinks industry on its cohesive approach to progress and achievement.
"The Drinks Association is a great thing for our industry," Powell said. "The more collaborative we are, the better we become."
Thank you to our sponsors
The Supply Chain Management Award was sponsored by GS1, which supports the Australian liquor industry in many ways, including educating and supporting suppliers to meet trading partner and industry requirements. Its services include Customer Support Desk, Barcode Check, National Product Catalogue, Smart Media and site visits.
“As GS1 manages the most widely used suite of global open supply chain standards we are delighted to have the opportunity to support the Supply Chain Management Award," said Maria Palazzolo, GS1 Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer.
"Remember that without effective supply chain management you wouldn’t have anything to drink tonight!”
"Lion has won this award because they have demonstrated exceptional skill around the fundamentals of supply chain management as well as an ability to collaborate with partners. Nothing happens in supply chain without collaboration."
Palazzolo presented the award to Idris Jama, Customer Supply Director at Lion.
Andrews added: “The Australian Drinks Awards event was amazing again this year.
"Advantage congratulate all award winners, in particular those suppliers who were recognised by their retailer partners as developing best-in-class business relationships through strategic collaboration, consistently delivering on commitments and working well together to grow categories."
The Most Improved Supplier Award was sponsored by ALM. 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.
"The Drinks Association Most Improved Supplier award was very close this year, and we are pleased to congratulate our joint winners Taylors Wines [below] and Bacardi-Martini," Andrews said.
ALM Chief Executive Officer Chris Baddock said: "Congratulations to Taylors and Bacardi-Martini on securing the Most Improved Supplier award for 2019, it was thoroughly deserved.
"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. It was a privilege for ALM to have put our name to this award, and to have played a role in the success of the 2019 Australian Drinks Awards."
ALM's Rod Pritchard also noted: "ALM remain a strong supporter of the Advantage survey, as it represents the ideal vehicle to provide constructive two-way feedback with our suppliers, which ultimately benefits all parties."
Advantage Australia is looking forward to working with Drinks Association members in the coming months on the more detailed aspects of their business relationships.
Click here to see a photo gallery from the event
Click here to see all the winners at the Australian Drinks Awards
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