Good Drinks Australia's very big week

It has been a big week at Good Drinks Australia.

The Western Australian based business says it has doubled its retail market share for the first half of FY23 to 2.6 per cent and given Aaron Heary a seat on the Board along with a new day to day position of Director Strategy, Brand and Hospitality. Phil McClintock has been appointed to the position of Chief Operating Officer.

Group revenue for Good Drinks is up by 80 per cent and its own brands, which include Gage Roads, Atomic Brewing and Matso's, have enjoyed growth of 12 per cent.

GDA attributes its strong earnings to its new hospitality and partner brands which offset the loss of income from contract brewing.

Aaron Heary appointed Executive Director Strategy, Brand and Hospitality

Heary has been with the company since 2004 performing the dual roles of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer for Good Drinks since 2014. During this time, he has overseen the expansion of the Gage Roads Palmyra facility to become WA's largest brewery.

Day to day, Director John Hoedemaker and Heary work together across all aspects of the business and say that the scalable sales and distribution platform that they developed paved the way for the recent distribution agreements with global partner Molson Coors.

"John and I make a strong team, and we have worked closely together for a long time. We come from very different backgrounds, which complement each other well and we share common values," said Heary.

In his new role, Heary will maintain oversight of the hospitality business unit which has proved a particularly successful strategy for Good Drinks with hospitality venues performing above expectations and as crucial vehicles for driving brand awareness.

Heary led Good Drinks's push into branded hospitality venues which diversified the company's revenue streams as well as building brand awareness and consumer loyalty. Matso's on the Sunshine Coast is set to launch later this year.

Heary said, "Over the last 19 years, I've been privileged to work with some incredibly talented people across all aspect of our business. It's our tenacious and entrepreneurial culture that has allowed us to outperform the Australian beer market for such a long time."

He will continue to lead strategy development of the business.

Phil McClintock promoted to Chief Operating Officer

Phil McClintock will step into the role of Chief Operating Officer, having been promoted from Head of Commercial, a role that he has been in since 2019.

Managing Director John Hoedemaker said, "Phil has been one of the company's top performers since his first day on the job, both culturally and technically. He has driven the improvement of commercial rigour, data-based decision making and revenue management across the business and most recently Phil was central to the negotiation and integration of our partnership brands Millers, Coors and Magners."

Good Drinks says its expects to deliver on its forecast to achieve between $25m-$30m in earnings by FY25.