More than 1200 suppliers joined Endeavour Group’s 2024 Supplier Forum, an online discussion and live Q&A session. The event provided Endeavour’s suppliers with the latest updates on supplier engagement, industry trend views, and product knowledge and innovation.
Endeavour has been progressively enhancing its supplier arrangements with 14-day payment terms now permanently available for smaller suppliers and improved onboarding process to get new labels and products on its shelves more quickly.
Endeavour Group’s buying and merchandising director, Tim Carroll said recognising the vital role suppliers play and ensuring they are aware of the latest industry and customer trends is key to building collective success.
“There have been $850 million of sales generated by new products in the last two years and 1,900 new products added to our range in the last year alone, which demonstrates our unwavering commitment to supporting our valued suppliers.
“We are seeing rapid changes in customers’ tastes and preferences, and the trend of consumers seeking out and trying new drinks is showing no signs of abating even in a higher cost of living environment,” said Carroll.
In a group-first, this year’s Supplier Forum is followed by four category-specific deep-dive sessions to be held throughout April.
“The series of category deep-dives across wine, beer, spirits and premix showcases new and emerging customer trends to a market demanding new taste profiles, moderation and options to ‘drink better’, all while staying responsive to macroeconomic conditions.
“We have seen some of our small suppliers really benefit from initiatives like this, for example, Yarra Valley wine producer Zonzo Estate has seen exponential growth in recent months of its limoncello spritz Zoncello,” said Carroll.
Zonzo director Rod Micallef said the relationship with Endeavour Group had helped build on his success.
“We are lucky to have a great relationship with our category manager who we often email about ideas or changes to branding.
“He has been an amazing sounding board in assisting us with growth. He went above and beyond with us getting this on the market as quickly as we could get it bottled,” said Micallef.
Endeavour Group’s quarterly supplier publication, Distilled, featuring the latest category trends and insights can be found here.
