Asahi Beverages CEO: 'Customers and consumers are at the heart of everything we do'

2024 was an extremely action-packed year for Asahi Beverages. On top of CUB being named Supplier of the Year, the drinks group celebrated the 200th birthday of Australia’s oldest brewery Cascade, acquired a leading gin brand, and continued to grow Hard Rated’s market share.

Here, Group CEO Amanda Sellers looks back on the year gone by:

“As we reflect on 2024, we acknowledge it brought opportunities and challenges for us all. Those challenges have inspired us to work even harder with customers to develop innovations, creating more value this year and beyond.

Among the moments I’m most proud of in 2024 was CUB’s recognition as Supplier of the Year by the Drinks Association for the second year straight. This honour, alongside the Category Management Award for the third consecutive year, underlines the passion, innovation, and teamwork that define Asahi Beverages and CUB.

It’s a testament to the people behind the scenes – in our breweries, offices and beyond. They inspire me and hopefully make a difference in our customers’ businesses too.

Customers and consumers are at the heart of everything we do. By closely monitoring changing consumer preferences, we ensure our drinks resonate with more Australians. We always try to ensure that working with us is as seamless as possible for our customers — aligning with their strategies and helping solve their challenges.

While economic pressures this year were challenging, there was good performance in areas like mid-strength beer. In March, we launched Carlton Dry 3.5%, which quickly became Australia’s most popular new beer. It shows how we’re meeting the changing needs of beer lovers, who want great-tasting brews while moderating their alcohol consumption.

As Australians embrace more balanced lifestyles, we’re giving them more options to moderate. Great Northern Super Crisp is not only Australia’s no. 1 mid-strength beer, it's the number one beer overall, highlighting how we are innovating and investing to respond to the evolving market. Meanwhile, Great Northern Zero is Australia’s no. 1 non-alcohol beer. More than 30% of our beer sales are no, low or mid-strength beer.

We also led the way in premiumisation in 2024, with beer lovers increasingly prepared to spend more on genuine premium beers.

Cascade Origin marked 200 years of Cascade. Brewed with pristine Tasmanian water and local ingredients, it has 4.5% ABV, a light citrus aroma and rounded malt body for a crisp finish. It’s the first major Cascade beer launched on the mainland in 10+ years.

At the other end of Australia, Great Northern Long Run launched in Longreach, Queensland. It’s only available in Queensland and is a premium lager crafted with 4.5% ABV, 100% Australian barley and subtle tropical hop notes. Long Run is inspired by the Outback and brewed for those who know doing something special takes time, but in the long run, is worth the effort!

There was much innovation in RTDs too, including Sub Zero which relaunched with zero-sugar as we continue meeting evolving consumer preferences for great-tasting, low-calorie alternatives.

Hard Rated continued to create mutual value with customers. Despite only launching last year, it’s already Australia’s no 1 light-spirit RTD. This year we launched Hard Rated alcoholic Lemon Lime Zero Sugar to expand its appeal further.

Another 2024 highlight was Never Never - one of Australia’s most highly-awarded gin brands - joining Asahi Beverages. Adding a super-premium, Australian-made gin plugged an important gap in our offering and complements our leading multi-beverage portfolio.

Our diverse range means we have drinks for every occasion. But for the best mixers, it’s hard to go past StrangeLove. Whether it’s a Dirty Tonic Water, Salted Grapefruit mixer or Hot Ginger Beer, their premium ingredients and natural flavours elevate any cocktail. Schweppes mixers, meanwhile, have been adding a dash of sophistication to every good party for many years. Schweppes draws on 200+ years of heritage and style but, with a fresh rebrand is more relevant than ever.

In 2024, we moved closer to our goal of having 100% of purchased electricity sourced from or offset by renewables by 2025, via a Flow Power partnership to source and offset energy from New England Solar - NSW’s largest solar project. We’re now powering production of our iconic drinks, such as Great Northern and VB, with energy linked to sunshine harvested in New England.

Looking ahead, cost of living pressures will continue to challenge, but we’re not slowing down. We’ll keep driving consumer-centric innovation that responds to and drives new trends while keeping customers at the heart of everything.

As we wrap up 2024, I want to thank our customers and partners.

Our incredible brands inspire us to make drinks that bring millions of Australians together every day. Enjoy the summer festivities in moderation and bring on 2025!”

This article was written by Amanda Sellers for Drinks Guide 2025, which will be distributed nationwide soon. If you would like a copy and are not currently on the Drinks Trade/Guide magazine mailing list, get in touch with the team now.