THOUGHT LEADERSHIP: COVID-19 – HOW DOES THE DRINKS INDUSTRY BOUNCE BACK?

Overview

As all sectors of the drinks industry endeavour to devise and implement strategies to deal with both the initial impact and ongoing ramifications of the COVID pandemic, Cesium Group in partnership with The Drinks Business, convened a Thought Leadership panel of senior figures, to share ideas and experiences. 

Titled “Covid-19: How does the Drinks Industry bounce back”, the session, chaired by Cesium CEO Paul Haslam, saw around 20 C-level business leaders and executives representing drinks brand owners, distributors, marketers and retailers, swap insights via video conferencing.

Inevitably, the discussion started with the immediate impact on businesses of the past few months…see more...

Contributors: 

○ Adam Keary (UK MD) - Camden Town Brewery; ○ Alexei Rosin (UK MD) - Mo?t Henessy Europe; ○ Andrew Day (CEO) MMI. LC DUBAI UAE; ○ Charlotte Jefferies (CEO) - 31Dover; ○ Chris Milton (Sales Director) - Thatcher’s Cider Company; ○ Cristian Lopez (Corporate Export Director) - Concha y Toro; ○ Daniel Showering (Qwner) - Brothers Drinks Co; ○ Elizabeth Newman (Category Director – BWS) - Sainsbury’s; ○ Gordon Dron (CEO) - Proximo; ○ Hugh Sturges (MD) - Jeroboams; ○ James Kowszun (COO and Group Finance Director) - Bibendum Wine; ○ James Sutcliffe (Marketing Director) - Monster Energy; ○ Joseph Walsh (Head of Europe) - Distell; ○ Luke Maga, (MD Travel Retail) - Distell International; ○ Neil Jardine (MD) - ILLVA Saronno Holding; ○ Pietro Mattioni (Global Commercial Director) - illy Coffee; ○ Tommy Danvers (Creator) - 808 Whiskey

On-trade

Across most of the world, the impact of lockdown measures implemented to stop the spread of Covid-19 was felt sharply and quickly in the on-trade. Participants discussed their experience of the initial impact of the loss of a key retail channel, as well as their concerns about the longer-term prospects for the on-trade...see more

E-Commerce boom 

Consumers moving into lockdown were very quick to change their alcohol buying habits, prompting many of the participants to gear up e-commerce operations in response. While this boom in direct-to-consumer sales has been very welcome, it has also prompted challenges for some businesses...see more

Off-trade

For consumers, the shift to spending more time at home has clearly been a boost to the off-trade, not least at the start of lockdown when, for many consumers, alcohol was high on the list of commodities to ‘panic’ buy. At the same time, the measures necessary to make shopping safe have also changed the way consumers approach the off-trade environment…see more

Events

For many drinks brands and suppliers, the summer events and festivals market is an essential part of the sales calendar, making the almost total shutdown of events in summer 2020 a potentially knockout blow...see more  

Technology

The way that video conferencing apps, notably Zoom, have become ubiquitous during lockdown demonstrates that the ways in which consumers use technology is just as likely to jump forward as it is to evolve. Participants discussed the ways in which the pandemic has created then need for new ways to communicate both within the trade, and with consumers…see more

Global Travel Retail

The global travel retail market, long an engine of sales for the drink sector, juddered to a halt as measure to control the Covid-19 pandemic took hold. The discussion included both the impact on GTR, and way businesses were trying to mitigate it…see more

Human Resources

Across all industry sectors, pandemic has impacted on traditional working patterns, from the shift to home working from the office, to furloughed staff and, inevitably, redundancies. The ways in which businesses can keep employees engaged and effectively utilised prompted an interesting debate…see more

Core Range vs Innovation

Conventional wisdom says that consumers buy conservatively in a time of crisis. Innovation, however, is the life blood of the drinks sector, meaning that the lockdown also created new opportunities...see more   

The Future

While there was inevitably caution about the short term, with discounting to drive trade and a fall in the number of on-trade outlets likely scenarios, there was also optimism…see more

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About Cesium Group

Cesium Group is a boutique headhunting and HR consultancy working across the beers, wines, and spirits categories, both globally, and in the UK. We take the best elements of process and structure from the big international search firms and HR consultancies but redefine them in a more agile, authentic, and immersive way. The result? Better than best practice that positively impacts the bottom line of our clients. 

Contact | Paul Haslam - [email protected] | www.cesiumgroup.com