Over the past year, Lion Australia has evolved and developed in a diverse number of ways. This includes both internal changes, such as restructuring its senior leadership team; and external changes, such as pioneering an entirely new drinks categories.
Taking place in April, Lion welcomed in James Brindley and Anubha Sahasrabuddhe as its new Australian business leads, who collectively replaced the MD position previously held by David Smith.
Under new leadership, Lion has also doubled down on its investments in the zero carb beer category it has helped establish. This better-for-you focus has also led Lion to reconsider some of its long-term partnerships, resulting in new deals such as Hahn becoming the new naming right partner for the Hahn Australian Cup.
Here, Managing Director James Brindley and Chief Growth & Commercial Officer Anubha Sahasrabuddhe reflect on Lion Australia's year gone by:
“2024 marked a pivotal year for Lion. While global inflationary pressures and challenging market conditions posed hurdles, our new Ambition and Strategy fueled our continued transformation and growth.
We are dedicated to growing our business with consumers and customers and have unwavering commitment to our purpose—Making the Moment Mean More.
Beer remains a core strength and an important force in the alcohol market. We're dedicated to the beer category and investing in our iconic brands to elevate them further. At the same time, RTDs and Spirits are key growth areas, and we're building the capabilities to become a respected challenger in these segments.
We're reinforcing our competitive edge by investing in core brands, making fewer but more strategic bets, and embracing innovation. We are seeing strong growth in brands like Hahn and Stone & Wood, which are some of Australia’s fastest growing brands.
The launch of our Ultra Zero Carb* beers has shown promising results, and we're optimistic about the growth potential of the Zero Carb category. The significant marketing activity around the Zero Carb category saw Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin come out of retirement to kick carbs for Hahn, a singing Lizard grace TV screens for XXXX and the NSW Blues belting out I feel like a Tooheys after their amazing win of the State of Origin.
We have had a strong focus on improving execution, which is reflected in our advantage survey score of #2 in the market, and winning supplier of the year at the Coles, ILG and Star Liquor Group awards. It has been a true team effort, with every member of the Lion team pulling together to get us to where we want to be.
Our progress in sustainability and people policies has been widely recognised, with Lion winning multiple awards in both areas including the Best Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Initiative at the Australian Drinks awards. Another standout achievement was the opening of the Tooheys Reverse Osmosis Water Plant at our Lidcombe brewery, which will save an estimated 270 million litres of water annually—equivalent to 5.3 million kegs or 108 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Looking ahead to 2025, we have clear, confident plans to win in Australia. Whether it's growing our brands, partnering with customers, strengthening our operations, developing talent, or advancing our Force for Good agenda, we will continue to drive Lion’s transformation. We’re excited to see where the year takes us.”
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This article was written by James Brindley and Anubha Sahasrabuddhe 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.
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