Last month the UK Government announced a freeze on all alcohol duty until at least August next year. ADA and SCA wrote to the Treasurer advising him of the developments and pointing him to the implications for the Australian industry. We said there are clear parallels with the situation our businesses are currently confronting in Australia. Spirits excise in Australia has risen by a total of 12.5% in under two years, from $88.91 to $100.05 per litre of alcohol. We asked him to intervene by freezing CPI increases on spirits for the remainder of this Parliament, to take effect before the next CPI increase in February.

The Victorian Government has announced the Safety - Hazardous Areas and Dangerous Goods Rebate has now opened for all Victorian distilleries. This program will provide a rebate of up to $50,000 for expenditure on eligible safety infrastructure improvements to your distillery.

Key features of this program include:

Access to the Rebate, including program guidelines is available via the link below.

Access Rebate Website

The Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) confirms Australia’s spirits excise regime is untenable and must be urgently reformed, the spirits industry warns.

The MYEFO reveals a projected $170 million shortfall in revenue from spirits excise in 2023-24 alone, as the combination of high spirits excise and inflation continues to dampen consumer demand.

Spirits and Cocktails Australia chief executive Greg Holland says the budget update confirms the pain that is currently being felt among spirits manufacturers.

“Declining spirits sales are now being reflected in the Federal Government’s tax coffers,” he said.

“This lower tax revenue is despite spirits excise having recently hit at an all-time high of $100.05 per litre of alcohol.”

Holland said the Budget update suggests the tax has reached a tipping point similar to that experienced in the UK, where spirits sales fell by 20 per cent immediately following an unprecedented 10.1% duty rise in August.

The UK government found the tax increase contributed to the largest rise in UK inflation ever recorded and lower tax revenue.

“With another excise increase for the Australian spirits industry due in February, we call on the Federal Government to follow the UK’s lead and better align alcohol taxation to the current economic conditions,” he said.

“The rate of spirits excise has increased, yet revenue is down. This tells us everything we need to know about the appropriateness of this tax in the current economic climate.”

Australian Distillers Association chief executive Paul McLeay said the rampant excise increases are putting the emerging local industry at risk.

“We now have more than 600 distilleries operating in all corners of Australia, the majority of which are in regional areas, contributing 5,000 manufacturing jobs to the Australian economy,” he said.

“Spirits excise in Australia has risen by a total of 12.5% in under two years, fuelling inflation and cost of living pressures on hard working Australians.

“As consumption is falling our spirits producers are also being hit with higher costs of production, and now they are facing another excise hike in February.

“We call on the Government to ease the pressure on the Australian industry by freezing spirits excise.”

The UK Government’s decision to temporarily freeze alcohol duty is instructive for policymakers in Australia, according to the Australian spirits industry.

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt on Wednesday announced a freeze on all alcohol duty until at least August next year, in recognition that further increases would mean less tax revenue for Treasury.

Spirits & Cocktails Australia director Nicole Lestal said the UK experience demonstrates that alcohol tax must keep pace with changing economic circumstances and industry dynamics.

“Spirits sales in the UK fell by 20 per cent immediately following the unprecedented 10.1% August duty rise, crippling the distilling industry and putting a dent in the government’s coffers,” she said.

“The UK’s Office for National Statistics found the most recent tax increase contributed to the largest rise in UK inflation ever recorded.”

Lestal said spirits excise in Australia, which increases twice per year, has risen by a total of 12.5% in under two years, from $88.91 to $100.05 per litre of alcohol, fuelling inflation and cost of living pressures.

“Alcohol beverages on their own accounted for 5.03% of total CPI composition in the September quarter this year,” she said.

Australian Distillers Association chief executive Paul McLeay said spirits tax has increased more than 70 times since the current excise regime was introduced in 1983, back when there were only two spirits manufacturers in Australia.

“There are now more than 600 businesses subject to this tax, which is no longer fit for purpose,” said McLeay.

“With another excise increase for the Australian spirits industry due in February, we call on the Federal Government to follow the UK’s lead and ease the pressure on Australians by freezing spirits excise.”

If you are the ADA primary contact, you would have received an email from Deloitte Access Economics inviting you to complete a survey about your business.

This work has been commissioned by Spirits & Cocktails Australia with the support of Australian Distillers Association, to provide an updated picture of the industry’s current economic contribution and potential for growth.

The survey includes up to 50 questions relating to your finances and operating model; manufacturing production, distribution and sales; workforce demographics and more.

I apologise in advance for adding to your workload at a busy time of year for our industry.

However, I must emphasise that your participation in this research is absolutely critical to ensure we have robust and credible data to underpin our advocacy and engagement with government and stakeholders.

I want to stress that only aggregated responses will be reported in the final research. Your individual responses will not be made available to Spirits & Cocktails Australia, the Australian Distillers Association, or any other party.

Deloitte Access Economics is contractually obliged to treat your survey responses with the utmost confidentiality. They will be destroyed once the project has been completed.

I’m sure you will agree that the stakes have never been higher for our advocacy efforts with spirits excise having recently surpassed $100/LaL

To help motivate you further, Spirits & Cocktails Australia has donated some fantastic incentives to participate in this research:

• 1st Prize – five tickets to the 2024 Australian Distillers Annual Conference and a $5,000 travel voucher

• 2nd Prize – two conference tickets and a $2,000 travel voucher

• 3rd Prize – One bottle of the Australian Distillers Association’s extremely rare ‘Collaborative Blend’, celebrating 30 years of Australian Whisky.

The survey is divided into core questions and supplementary questions. You will need to complete the entire survey to be entered into the draw to win these prizes*.

Please note that Deloitte Access Economics will only be sending the survey to the Primary Contact in the Australian Distillers Association’s member database.

If that is not you, please ensure you remind them to complete the survey by COB, 1 December so that your company is entered into the draw.

Thanks for your participation in this important project. Please contact Michael Sugg with any enquiries on 0481 177 160 or email.

Regards,

Paul McLeay
Chief Executive

* See full prize draw terms and conditions.

Producers are responsible for ensuring the quality, safety and regulatory compliance of their products. In order to fulfil this role appropriately and effectively, producers must have the ability to trace their products in order to react quickly and effectively should any consumer safety issue arise.

Producers often use an identification number or mark – otherwise known as a lot code – as part of their traceability strategy, in order to quickly and efficiently identify the lot (ie, batch of sales units of a foodstuff produced, manufactured or packaged under practically the same conditions) from which a product was part. Lot codes will typically include information such as the line of production, batch number and the bottle reference. The production date can also be part of the lot code, either in a detailed (e.g. 2023.02.03) or in a coded fashion, depending on the operator. All these elements will allow producers to conduct a swift and thorough recall of affected products should any issues arise. Lot codes are also used by operators for protection against counterfeiting, considering that they are unique to a given product.

Australia and New Zealand

Legislative framework

In both Australia and New Zealand, the Food Standards Code mandates that food for sale must bear a lot identification.

Moreover, there is a prohibition on defacement: “A person who sells a food for sale that is packaged, or deals with a packaged food for sale before its sale, must not deface the label on the package unless:

(a) the relevant authority has given its permission; and

(b) if the relevant authority has imposed any conditions on its permission—those conditions have been complied with.”

There is a specific provision to permit instances where there would be a need to re-label or oversticker in order to be compliant with the Code.

Penalties in case of infringement of the rules

Australia: According to the Food Act 1984, “a person must not sell or advertise any food that is packaged or labelled in a manner that contravenes a provision of the Food Standards Code. Penalty: AUD$40 000 in the case of an individual and $200 000 in the case of a corporation”, and “a person must not sell or advertise for sale any food in a manner that contravenes a provision of the Food Standards Code. Penalty: $40 000 in the case of an individual and $200 000 in the case of a corporation”.

If you would like a toolkit for lot code and traceability requirements for export requirements, please contact Paul McLeay.

You need written permission from the ATO to provide your products in any container more than 2 litres, unless it is under bond.

The obligation is on you, the producer.

Several members have made enquiries in relation to the supply of spirits in 20 litre containers. Many members are not aware that you need ATO specific written permission to enter spirits or other excisable beverages (OEBs) into the Australian domestic market (that is, leaving your bond) in a container with a capacity of more than 2 litres.

For example, a licensed distiller may want to sell spirit packaged in a 20-litre plastic container directly to pubs and clubs, where it will be used to prepare mixed alcohol beverages (such as cocktails) for consumption on the premises. The distiller cannot sell the spirit to those pubs and clubs without first obtaining written permission from the ATO to enter the spirit packaged in the bulk container into the Australian domestic market.

To apply for permission, submit your request to the ATO in writing and provide:

The ATO cannot give permission to enter spirits or OEBs that are packaged in a container with a capacity of more than 2 litres where they are to be repackaged into any other container for retail sale.

Spirits or OEBs packaged in a container with a capacity of more than two litres can be supplied underbond and repackaging for retail sale may be undertaken at excise licensed premises, prior to the goods being entered into the Australian domestic market.

You can contact the ATO for more information.

Queensland

Members should be aware that the Container Deposit Scheme has been extended to include spirit bottles that are sold in, or to be consumed, in Queensland. This was previously only applied to RTDs. This came into effect 1 November 2023.

If you are a QLD producer, this affects you.

If you sell your product into QLD, this affects you.

Many thanks go to the QDA who has been lobbying the State Government for administrative amendments to this scheme. They have been in constant communication with the Minister’s office, the Office of Circular Economy and COEX as the scheme administrator in Queensland.

Some of the key elements of the scheme are:

More information can be found here.

Victoria

The new container deposit scheme, VicReturn, commenced on 1 November 2023. While “a glass bottle or glass container designed to hold only pure spirituous liquor or wine” has been exempt from the scheme at this point, those selling cans or glass RTDs are still caught by the scheme.

Full details of the scheme, including how to register (which is compulsory if you are supplying eligible containers) is available at https://vicreturn.com.au/first-suppliers/.

Those affected (RTD or bottled cocktails) will need to enter into a Supply Agreement with VicReturn, and you will be invoiced for the costs on a monthly basis. If you are supplying less than 300,000 containers per annum, you can opt into a quarterly invoicing arrangement. These costs vary depending on the type of container, but will add between 11.0 and 11.5 cents per container (plus GST) to your business costs.

Other States

Other states are in various stages of community consultation.

Australian distillers dominated the spirits categories at the 28th Australian Liquor Industry Awards (ALIA) in Sydney.

First held in 1994, the ALIAs is hosted by leading drinks industry publications TheShout, Australian Hotelier, BARS&clubs and National Liquor News.

The expert panel of 50 industry judges voted up Cape Byron Distillery and Four Pillars for major awards that were contested by brewers, winemakers and global spirits brands.

Cape Byron claimed Best New Product for its Cape Byron The Original Australian Single Malt Whisky, while Four Pillars was named Best Liquor Brand.

Archie Rose Distilling Co was runner up for both of these major awards, also claiming the prize for Best Australian Distillery.

Local distillers further claimed four out of a possible seven off-premise awards for spirits, in addition to several other commendations.

Australian Distillers Association CEO Paul McLeay said it was an unprecedented showing for local spirits at the drinks industry’s benchmark awards.

“It was a proud night for our distillers, whose awards stretched across the full gamut of light and dark spirits, liqueurs, RTDs and innovation,” he said.

“This demonstrates the continued market penetration of Australian spirits, which are clearly resonating with trade and consumers alike.

“On behalf of the ADA, I congratulate all the successful distillers.”

Australian spirits honoured at ALIA 2023:

BEST LIGHT SPIRIT

Winner Never Never Triple Juniper Gin

Highly Commended Archie Rose Straight Dry Gin

BEST LUXURY DARK SPIRIT

Winner Archie Rose Single Malt

Highly Commended Lark Classic Cask Single Malt Australian Whisky

BEST LUXURY LIGHT SPIRIT

Winner Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin

Highly Commended Archie Rose Signature Dry Gin, Hickson Road Harbour Strength Gin

BEST LIQUEUR

Winner Aperol

Winner Sheep Dog

Highly Commended Mr Black

BEST DARK RTD/RTS

Winner Starward (New) Old Fashioned

Highly Commended Jack Daniels Double Jack

BEST LIGHT RTD/RTS

Winner -196

Highly Commended Brookvale Union

BEST AUSTRALIAN DISTILLERY

Winner Archie Rose Distilling Co.

Highly Commended Four Pillars

BEST NEW PRODUCT

Winner Cape Byron The Original Australian Single Malt Whisky

Highly Commended Archie Rose Fundamentals

BEST LIQUOR BRAND

Winner Four Pillars

Highly Commended Archie Rose Distilling Co.

BEST ON-PREMISE SPIRIT

Winner 1800 Tequila

Highly Commended Never Never Triple Juniper Gin

Australian spirits producers Four Pillars Gin, Grainshaker Vodka and Curatif Cocktails are celebrating a record-breaking night at the International Wine & Spirits Competition in London.

Victoria’s Four Pillars led the honours, winning the International Gin Producer Trophy for a record third time after its back-to-back wins in 2019 and 2020.

Fellow Victorians Grainshaker Vodka – produced by Top Shelf International in Campbellfield – claimed the Vodka Producer Trophy.

And canned cocktails company Curatif picked up the RTD Producer Trophy for a second time, having won the inaugural gong for this category in 2022.

Australian Distillers Association chief executive Paul McLeay said it was another landmark moment for this exciting industry.

“The Producer Trophies are the most prestigious accolades in the IWSC, which is the world's largest and most influential spirits awards with more than 4,000 entries from distilleries across the globe in 2023,” he said.

“Our spirits manufacturers have once again proven that their products can compete with the very best and triumph on the world stage.

“These results further highlight the export potential for Australian spirits, were they not hampered by the world’s third highest spirits tax, which hit an outrageous $100.05 per litre of pure alcohol on 1 August.”

Four Pillars was awarded 10 medals for its gins in the 2023 Awards, including two gold medals with 98 points for Bloody Underhill Vineyard Shiraz Gin and Single Barrel S36 Gin.

“Back in 2013, we set out with the ambition to make world-class gin, so to win this award three times is simply mind-blowing,” said Four Pillars co-founder and distiller Cameron McKenzie.

“It’s a massive thrill for our team back at home and for the Australian spirits industry overall, and even sweeter that Four Pillars celebrates ten years of making gin this December,” he said.

Meanwhile, Grainshaker Vodka outperformed more than 200 other vodka brands to win the Vodka Producer Trophy, highlighting the quality of its spirits made from Australian wheat, corn and rye.

The IWSC judges declared Grainshaker a leader in the “grain-to-glass” movement, awarding its Wheat Vodka a gold medal with 98 points.

“This is a massive win not just for Grainshaker but the Australian spirits industry,” said Top Shelf CEO Trent Fraser.

“Vodka is one of the most competitive spirit categories, and we’ve shown we can compete on the international stage with the likes of Russia, Poland, France and the USA when tasted blind by the expert judges at IWSC.”

Australian Distillers Association president Holly Klintworth said she is immensely proud of the industry’s achievements at these prestigious awards.

“There are now more than 600 distilleries spread across Australia and they are producing some of the world’s finest spirits,” she said.

“If Australian drinkers ever needed another reason to drink local, this is it.”

“Victoria has proven once again it is the spirits capital of Australia,” said David Irwin, President of Spirits Victoria Association.

“These awards are yet another example of how Victoria is producing world-beating spirits.”