Mirroring the shared success of the 2023 Supplier of the Year Award, this year’s Most Improved Supplier was also a dual victory. The esteemed title was presented to William Grant & Sons and Campari in the presence of over 380 attendees at the 2023 Australian Drinks Awards hosted at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth on Thursday night.
The Most Improved Supplier Award is determined by the largest change in rank from all suppliers as rated by retailers and wholesalers in the Engagement Program facilitated by the Drinks Association’s Corporate Partner, Advantage Australia.
Advantage Australia’s General Manager, David McLoughlin, explained that the Most Improved Supplier of the Year had been shared between William Grant & Sons and Campari because they demonstrated the strongest year-on-year progress. Both companies climbed an impressive 31 places in their Advantage score versus 2022.
“William Grant & Sons has seen a significant turnaround in its relationships with trading partners and is now recognised for providing strong communication, an ease of doing business and delivering on commitments. Improvements that have led to a deeper level of trust in the relationship,” said McLoughlin.
Kristy Ryan, Commercial Director at William Grant & Sons accepted the award on the company’s behalf. She said: “We wouldn’t be here without our partners. To our retail partners, wholesale partners and on-trade partners, we love working with you. Thank you very much for this encouragement.”
Regarding Campari’s win, Advantage Australia’s General Manager and Director of Global Retailer Development Alice Hutchins, said: “Trading partners have recognised a considerable improvement in Campari’s capabilities, reflected in a step up in the areas of ‘supports our strategy’, ‘collaborative planning’, and ‘differentiation’. These supplier attributes are seen as fundamental to strong partnerships.”
Campari has been the proud recipient of other recent industry accolades, including On-Premise Supplier of the Year at the Endeavour Group Awards in June, Spirits Supplier of the Year at the 2023 Coles Liquor Awards and Liquor Supplier of the Year at the Coles Group Awards last month.
Accepting the award on behalf of Campari was Customer Marketing Director, Anthony Wagstaff, who said: “I’d like to thank our sales team for their leadership over the last 12 months. It’s not always easy conversations with our customer partners, but they’ve really step-changed our mindset and brought forward customer-first thinking within our business.”
The Most Improved Supplier Award was introduced to the Australian Drinks Awards in 2018 to celebrate suppliers who have successfully set and executed a plan of improvement and have been acknowledged by retailers for improving their professionalism and delivery across all areas of their commercial relationship.
The award has been sponsored by ALM every year since its inception.
John Barakat, General Manager of Merchandise and Operations, said: “ALM is thrilled to sponsor and present the 2023 Most Improved Supplier of the Year. As a business, our goal is to strengthen our partnerships with the suppliers and the independents we support and unlock new opportunities to accelerate growth together. It’s great to shine a light on the finalists that have made significant strides in the way they work with their retailer partners.”
“Congratulations to both William Grant & Sons and Campari on this commendable achievement,” he said.
Vince Sorrenti was MC at the event where 48 awards were distributed to recognise achievement and excellence in the drinks industry, including four Supplier awards: Supplier of the Year, Most Improved Supplier, Category Management and Supply Chain Management.
The Drinks Association congratulates its Category One Members William Grant & Sons and Campari on winning the 2023 Most Improved Supplier of the Year Award.
Advantage Australia is a Corporate Partner of the Drinks Association.
All the winners from the 2023 Australian Drinks Awards are available here:
The Drinks Association would like to extend its thanks to its generous sponsors for this year’s event.
