We are excited to announce the launch of the Certificate IV in Artisan Fermented Products (Distilling), marking the first accredited course for craft distillers in Australia. This achievement made possible by the support of Agriculture Victoria, Spirits Victoria Association, Australian Distillers Association, National Distilling Institute, and industry experts, underscores Victoria's leadership in distillery education. This is an Australian first!

Victorian Distillers will be leading the country as the first cohort begins this exciting journey.

The following are the first cohort had their first day on 19 March at Starward Distillery. The first cohort of students are:

Course Information

We have launched the pilot program for the highly anticipated "Introduction to Distillery Safety Course".

This initiative, brought to you by the support from Agriculture Victoria and The Spirits Victoria Association, Australian Distillers Association and Valudus Risk Assessment, aims to embed safety standards within the Victorian distillery industry.

This course will be led by the esteemed Sebastian Reaburn. This one-day, in-person course is designed to equip distillery professionals, like yourself, with relevant, industry specific, workplace safety training. The comprehensive curriculum covers essential safety protocols and responsibilities, ensuring participants understand the critical importance of compliance and the potential ramifications of non-adherence.

Course Information

This Safety program will be made available to all members in the future.

  

Deloitte was engage by SCA to report on the Economic Contribution of the Spirits Industry in Australia. Deloitte was engaged by Spirits & Cocktails Australia to do a follow up report to the industry analysis that was conducted a couple of years ago. This report took the opportunity to ask additional questions to enable further insights and analysis.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT HERE

The key insights have been used in the Pre-Budget Submission and will be used in the preparation for the Parliamentary Inquiry and associated advocacy.

Thank you to the 250 distillers that participated. The input by members ensured the report is relevant, credible and reliable. In acknowledgement of the effort required to complete the survey, Spirits & Cocktails Australia and the ADA offered three prizes for those who completed the survey.

The winners were selected at random by Deloitte. They are:

Winner	Distillery	Name
1	Settlers Spirits	Phillip Jeffries
2	Woodwater Distillery	Justin Mok
3	Nine Circles	Cat Coathup

The report noted The Australian spirits industry supports economic activity both directly through its operations and through purchases from suppliers.

In 2022-23, this economic activity was worth nearly $15.5 billion in total value add and supported over 100,000full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs across Australia, of which approximately 51,300 people are directly employed in the industry.

The Australian spirits industry supply chain is made up of four stages, starting with approximately 700 spirit manufacturers that produce 366 million litres of finished product within Australia, attracting 3.5 million patrons to their distillery doors in FY23.

Key findings included:

Spirits Industry Survey also reveals the important contribution to regional Australia, with 48% of respondents located outside of capital cities.

Strong grow is expected for the spirits industry with 69% of spirits manufacturers expecting revenue to increase in FY24 and Revenue is expected to increase by 10% on average in FY24.

Capital investment is expected to rise by 2.3% in FY24, with 30% of spirits manufacturers expecting their capital expenditure to increase.

Barriers to growth

ADA and SCA have made a submission to Liquor & Gaming NSW on the proposed amendment to the regulation on undesirable products.

We’ve lent on the rationale from ABAC on Hard Solo to stress that any amendment to the regs should only apply to alcohol products led by soft drink brands – and not the reverse (i.e. products led with alcohol brands, like Jim Beam and cola).

It is important that we support the proposal on these grounds, as our failure to do so may result in a broader/ more restrictive definition at some later stage which may limit our members’ product innovation.

ABC recently ran a series of stories about competition and potentially misleading behaviours about the major retailers are using home brand style products that do not look like home brand products. See here. Nip of Courage provided comment. The Association was asked for comment and declined.

APISWA have shared with us information about concerning regulatory developments for the alcohol industry in Thailand.

The Office of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee (OABCC) has opened up public consultations for a draft Announcement on packaging and labelling, which foresees the introduction of graphic health warning labels (GHWLs) for alcoholic beverages. The OABCC had proposed this twice before (in 2009 and 2014), with the objective for Thailand to be the first in the world to implement such requirements. If enacted, the measure would be a world first for GHWLs for alcoholic beverages, and may spillover to other jurisdictions.

The Association has a made appropriate submissions and supported a similar campaign by SCA to oppose the GHWLs.

Australian spirits manufacturers are celebrating a bumper night at the World Whiskies Awards in London, with global honours awarded to several of our distilleries and their personnel.

The Whisky Magazine awards ceremony on Wednesday night featured the announcement of the World’s Best whiskies in the World Whiskies Awards and the Icons of Whisky global winners.

Australia shone in the 2024 Icons of Whisky Awards, with Tasmania’s Sullivans Cove Distillery – a three-time winner of World’s Best Single Malt – claiming four of the 27 Icons awards available on the night.

Sullivans Cove’s Heather Tillott and Ally Bhana respectively won the prizes for Distillery Manager and World Whisky Brand Ambassador, while the distillery also picked up the Sales Team and Brand Innovator gongs.

Fellow Tasmanians Callington Mill Distillery won the award for Visitor Attraction, while Seamus Carroll of The Whisky Club took home the prize for Scotch Whisky Brand Ambassador.

Australian Distillers Association chief executive Paul McLeay said it was yet another remarkable showing by the industry in a prestigious global event.

“For Australians to take out six of an available 27 Icons of Whisky awards demonstrates once again that our industry is world class,” he said.

“I would like to congratulate all the winners of these global awards, as well as our distillers who were named Country Winners on the night.”

McLeay said the awards cap off a momentous week for Australian spirits manufacturers, who are relishing the opportunity to participate in the Federal Government’s Inquiry into Food and Beverage Manufacturing in Australia, announced on Thursday.

“These latest global accolades certainly bolster our case for policy initiatives that will support our industry in its quest to grow exports of our premium spirits, which speak proudly of their Australian provenance,” he said.

Icons of Whisky 2024 – Global Winners

Distillery Manager
Heather Tillott, Sullivans Cove Distillery

Visitor Attraction
Callington Mill Distillery

Brand Innovator
Sullivans Cove Distillery

Scotch Whisky Brand Ambassador
Seamus Carroll, The Whisky Club

World Whisky Brand Ambassador
Ally Bhana, Sullivans Cove Distillery

Sales Team
The Team, Sullivans Cove Distillery

World Whiskies Awards 2024 – Global Winners

Best Label Design
Callington Mill Distillery – Blue Lake Lodge

World Whiskies Awards 2024 – Country Winners

Best Australian Blended
Coastal Stone – Xplore

Best Australian Blended Limited Release
Hellyers Road – Dark Harmony

Best Australian Blended Malt
Lark – Symphony No. 1

Best Australian Pot Still
Transportation Whiskey – The Journey Single Cask Cask Strength

Best Australian Rye
Backwoods Distilling Co. – Shiraz Cask

Best Australian Single Cask Single Malt
Hellyers Road – American Oak 16 Years Old

Best Australian Single Cask Single Rye
Whipper Snapper ­– Rye

Best Australian Single Malt
Lark – Fresh IPA Cask

Best Australian Small Batch Single Malt
Hellyers Road – Voyager Cask

Australia’s spirits industry has the potential to follow the wine industry and become a $1 billion export powerhouse by 2035 under the right policy settings, according to new economic modelling released today.

The Spirits Industry Competitiveness Plan prepared by research firm Mandala, and commissioned by the Australian Distillers Association and Diageo Australia, reveals policy and regulatory barriers, such as Australia’s high excise tax, are thwarting the potential of Australia’s spirits industry.

Australia’s emerging spirits industry currently supports 5,700 jobs in manufacturing, with almost half of the country’s 701 distillers located in regional areas. The spirits industry attracts 631,000 visitors annually, with distillery visits now the fastest growing tourist activity for overnight domestic visitors in Australia.

Despite this, the industry is still growing with 88 per cent of all distillers having fewer than 20 employees and more than half of distilleries less than five years old. Australian spirits exports also remain small when compared to the wine industry and international competitors, demonstrating an enormous opportunity for growth.

“While there has been an overall increase in the number of distillers in Australia, the average size of distilleries is declining, and many are not scaling as it is either too challenging or not worthwhile. This is primarily driven by the high excise tax, which is restricting businesses' ability to reinvest in their company and attract investment,” the report says.

The report states the federal Government can play a key role in helping to unlock the potential of the Australian spirits industry and simultaneously meet some of its own policy goals, including to grow Australian manufacturing and support regional jobs.

By taking key steps, including freezing twice-yearly increases to Australia’s spirits tax and establishing a ‘Spirits Australia’ body to support the industry’s growth, Australian spirits can go from being a $210 million export market in 2022 to a $1 billion export market by 2035.

This would create an additional $111 million in direct economic contribution and support almost 878 new FTE jobs, many in regional areas.

Australian Distillers Association chief executive Paul McLeay said: “This report proves what distillers right around this country already know, that Australia’s spirits tax has significant implications for the competitiveness of the spirits industry and the ability for distilleries to scale and attract investment.

“We welcome the federal Government’s move to set up a parliamentary inquiry into expanding innovation and value addition in food and beverage manufacturing, and we look forward to lending our expertise to those discussions.

“However, we already know the current spirits excise regime is limiting the opportunity Australian distillers have to expand and grow their businesses, and that by freezing it, we can grow regional jobs, tourism and manufacturing.”

Diageo Australia Managing Director Dan Hamilton said: “Australia’s spirits industry has enormous promise and Diageo has a strong track record in investing in great Australian spirits brands, but this report clearly demonstrates current policy settings are limiting the industry’s growth.

“Our consumers, who are having to pay $38 in tax for every 1 litre bottle of Bundaberg Rum, know this tax is not sustainable. Now, this report makes it clear that it’s also limiting the foreign direct investment which could drive industry and export growth.

“Having seen first hand the way Japan cultivated and grew its spirits export industry, I am confident Australia has all the hallmarks of being able to do the same, however, that cannot begin to occur until the government freeze’s the tax on spirits.”

Mandala Managing Partner Amit Singh said: “Our analysis shows that while Australia is 6th in the world in wine exports, we’re 29th in the world in spirits exports. Even though we perform better than the global average for spirits exports potential, we’re significantly behind the global lead pack.

“If Australia exports at its full trade potential, performing as efficiently as the UK, France, Singapore, Ireland, Mexico, we could export $1 billion of spirits annually by 2035 at our current rates of growth.”

The National Distilling Institute launched its first course in Certificate IV in Artisan Fermented Products (Distilling) yesterday. Local member for Albert Park Nina Taylor and Australian Distillers Association CEO Paul McLeay joined the Spirits Victoria Infrastructure and Safety Chair Sam Slaney and Victorian Industry Development Officer Seb Costello to get the first intake of students underway with their studies.

The initial intake of students will spend the next year studying a range of nationally accredited subjects as they develop significant skills in the theory and practice of operating a distillery.

The National Distilling Institute expects to have a second intake of students in June 2024, so if you are interested in developing the skills of yourself or an employee, check out the Australian Distillers page for the Certificate IV as well as the updated Training & Education pages of the Australian Distillers.

This initiative has been proudly developed by the National Distilling Institute, Spirits Victoria and Australian Distillers Association.

Aspiring Victorian distillers now have the opportunity to benefit from a new pilot training program focused on cutting edge distillation techniques and industry safety as part of the $20 million Distillery Door Program.

The $1.2 million pilot education pathway for distillers is being delivered by the National Distilling Institute in collaboration with the Spirits Victoria Association and the Australian Distillers Association. The initial courses will be a Certificate IV in Artisan Fermented Products and micro-credential courses for safety in distilleries.

The first session was held at Starward Distillery in Port Melbourne today and will be followed by sessions at regional distilleries in Geelong, Ballarat, Mornington and the High Country throughout April.

Over the next 18-months, the first round of students will complete up to 22 different subjects where they will gain expertise in areas ranging from how to blend spirits and filter fermented beverages, to how to perform basic safety tests and control food contamination and spoilage.

Further development will involve a Certificate III in Food Processing (Distilling) and funding of up to $2000 per distillery for staff to attend other micro-credential courses.

Victoria is the distillery capital of the nation with more than 180 distillers that employ over 9,000 people in rewarding jobs across regional and metropolitan Victoria.

This program is part of the $20 million Distillery Door Program which promotes Victoria’s world-class distilling industry through supporting skills development, boosting visitor economy, improving infrastructure and safety, and increasing export capability.

Quote attributable to Minister for Agriculture Ros Spence

“We’re investing in the future of distilling and we are thrilled to be partnering with industry leaders to deliver this new course that will set Victorian distillers apart from the rest.”

Quote attributable to Member for Albert Park Nina Taylor

“It’s great to see top industry bodies coming together to nurture and empower the next generation of distillers.”

Quote attributable to Spirits Victoria Association President David Irwin

“Victorian spirits are already globally renowned for the awards they have won on the world stage, but we believe further skills development is vital to safeguarding our industry‘s future.”

First published by the website of the Premier of Victoria, Hon Jacinta Allan MP.