Beam Suntory and Frucor Suntory have created a new $3 billion partnership across alcohol and non-alcohol segments in Australia and New Zealand, bringing 40 beverage brands together under the banner of Suntory Oceania.
Suntory Oceania will be the fourth largest ANZ beverage group in the Oceania region, with complete end-to-end control of its portfolio, including manufacturing, sales, and distribution. The partnership will become operational in Australia from mid-2025 and New Zealand from 2026.
Frucor Suntory CEO Darren Fullerton said the move brings the best of Suntory to the region. “With the ability to accelerate our growth trajectory, we strongly believe it will redefine market dynamics and offer more consumer beverage moments from sunrise to sunset, unlocking innovation for our customers across retail and hospitality industries,” Fullerton said.
Suntory Oceania’s 40 market-leading brands will include Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark Bourbon, Hibiki Japanese Whisky, Canadian Club Whisky, -196, V Energy, Maximus, and Suntory BOSS Coffee as well as other premium spirits, RTD (ready-to-drink) alcohol beverages, juice, water, soft drinks, coffee, energy, and sports drinks.
Mark Hill, Managing Director of Beam Suntory Oceania, said, “This collaboration demonstrates our belief in the growth potential of the Australian and New Zealand markets. When other businesses are pulling back, we are forging ahead, bringing Suntory’s spirit of bold ambition to life.”
The largest FMCG investment in Australia in more than 10 years, Frucor Suntory’s $400 million, net zero, beverage production facility currently under construction in Ipswich, Queensland, will fuel Suntory Oceania’s growth.
The project was designed to establish a production footprint in Australia, and relieve pressure on its New Zealand operations.
The multi-beverage facility will be on a 17-hectare, greenfield site in the New-Gen Business Park in Ipswich, and will include beverage processing, packaging, warehousing, and distribution. It will be able to produce up to 20 million cases of drinks a year when it opens in mid-2024, with the site designed for significant scaling to more than 50 million cases in the future.
Fullerton said, “The new site sets the industry standard in terms of investment into sustainable technologies to drive efficiency and minimise our carbon footprint. We are looking at a multi-pronged strategy through a CleanCo solar power purchase agreement, with more than 14km of solar panels on site, a biomass boiler and state-of-the-art production equipment.
“At Suntory, we are proud of our nearly 125-year-old focus on Growing for Good, which also means fuelling the economy, with Suntory expanding the current workforce, and hiring more than 400 staff as the partnership comes to life from mid-2025.”
End of era with CCEP
As Suntory Oceania is realised, it will herald the end of a 16-year manufacturing, sales, and distribution partnership between Beam Suntory and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP).
CCEP has been responsible for the sales and distribution of the Beam Suntory spirits portfolio, as well as the manufacture, sales, and distribution of its alcoholic RTD portfolio in Australia since 2007 and New Zealand since 2015.
The contract will end in June 2025 for Australia, and December 2025 for New Zealand.
CCEP regional managing director of Australia, Pacific, and Indonesia, Peter West, said, “We are incredibly proud of the results and capabilities we have built over the last 16 years. It’s been an exceptionally successful partnership, achieving rapid growth and driving strong category leadership, including recently becoming the MAT market leader in alcoholic RTD in Australia.
“Until the contracts end, it remains business as usual for our customers, and the great service we deliver. We intend to continue maximising our business performance and the category performance for the remainder of the contracts.”
West said CCEP plans to continue in the alcohol sector, seeing alcoholic RTDs as an attractive proposition due to its fast growth and synergies with CCEP’s existing knowledge and technical expertise.
The move will also drive CCEP’s ambition to further align as a bottler of its brand partner, The Coca-Cola Company, and free up capacity to support its growing portfolio in ANZ.
“Our understanding of the spirits and alcoholic RTD market has never been stronger, and beyond the expiry of the Beam Suntory contracts we plan to launch new scalable offerings in both Australia and New Zealand aligned with The Coca-Cola Company.
“Alcohol is a dynamic and important category, and when you look at the growth in alcoholic RTD beverages around the world, two of the most developed markets are Australia and New Zealand. CCEP’s experience in manufacturing alcoholic RTD beverages, our relationships servicing over 21,000 customers across the sector, and our deep consumer and customer knowledge all position CCEP well for a great future in alcohol,” West said.
Hill said, “We are immensely grateful for our long and successful relationship with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, which will continue through to 2025.
“With Suntory Oceania, we are looking to the future with optimism and a wholly owned platform from which to build the long-term growth of our brands for years to come. It is the perfect opportunity for us to build upon the strength of Suntory as the global leader across the beverage sector.”
Further work to establish the partnership will occur over the coming year with each partner, Beam Suntory and Frucor Suntory, retaining its own distinct legal entity.
