Pernod Ricard's Commercial Director discusses new bottling facility, workplace inclusion award, & more

Glen Scarlett, Commercial Director, provided Drinks Trade with an overview of all of Pernod Ricard's latest developments and accolades, including their recent recognition as having the Most Inclusive & Diverse Workplace at the Drinks Association annual Australian Drinks Awards.

"There has been a lot to celebrate for our team at Pernod Ricard Australia recently, particularly with regard to industry recognition. It’s been rewarding to see the number of industry awards our team has won, including Retail Drinks Awards Overall Supplier of the Year for 2023, as well as ALIA Best Off-Premise Supplier. But perhaps the award I am most proud of is the Australian Drinks Association 2023 Inclusive and Diverse Workplace Award. 

At Pernod Ricard, we pride ourselves on being creators of conviviality and at the foundation of this is our focus on building diverse teams and an inclusive culture where everyone belongs. We’ve been particularly focused on increasing the adoption of flexibility and parental leave amongst our male colleagues, which I’m proud to share has led to a 25% increase in men taking parental leave over the past two years. Receiving industry recognition of our efforts in this space highlights our prioritisation of supporting our people, who are at the core of everything we do. 

Another milestone we celebrated recently was opening our new state-of-the-art combination canning and small format bottle line in South Australia. With a processing capacity of 24,000 cans per hour, it’s the fastest combination can and bottle line in the Southern Hemisphere and now gives us the flexibility and speed we need to respond to emerging category trends. An example of this is our recent launch of the Altos Margarita Ready-To-Drink (RTD). With RTD being the fastest-growing liquor category and Tequila RTDs seeing the highest growth within the RTD subcategory over the last year, the two flavours, Lime and Watermelon, are perfectly positioned to respond to this consumer demand.

Off the back of growth during the pandemic, we continue to see the opportunity within the premium sparkling wine segment. In 2020, we launched our Mumm Terroirs Collection, which celebrates prestigious wine regions known for producing exceptional Pinot Noir. The collection now includes Mumm Marlborough, Mumm Tasmania, and now, excitingly, Mumm Central Otago. Launched last October, Mumm Central Otago Blanc de Noirs is made from hand-harvested grapes and is, in my opinion, the drop of the bunch. 

Looking ahead, what will remain important for us as a business and as an industry is how we continue to embrace change. Despite the current economic ambiguity, consumers will always have important milestones to celebrate or moments of conviviality, as we like to call it at Pernod Ricard. The opportunity for us then is how we find ways to surprise and delight consumers, whether that be at home or in-trade. The next 12 months will continue to require adaptability, and success will only come by continuing to look after our people, listening to our customers and remaining agile when responding to changing consumer and shopper behaviour."