Page 37 - Demo

“More recently, COVID-19 social distancing laws have seen massive lifestyle shifts for all Australians. We’ve seen an increase in the trend of homemade meals and shopping local, which has led to an increase in sales and consumption of non-alcoholic beverages.” Over the years, the Edenvale collection has expanded to include the Classic Range with eight SKUs, the Premium Reserve Range with three SKUs, and the Fronti sparkling grape juice range. When Convenience World spoke to Mr Andrade, he said Edenvale was preparing to expand its varietals range again with the release of a Pinot Gris in the second half of 2020. “We’re also working on an Edenvale Mulled Wine to bring to market ahead of the 2020 festive season,” Mr Andrade said. “As well as this, there are several other innovations and NPD projects in development.” Edenvale takes pride in its alcohol removal process. “This begins by creating a traditional fully fermented alcoholic wine to ensure the finished product will hold on to the healthy antioxidants and vitamins delivered by the fermentation process,” Mr Andrade said. “After the wine is produced in its ‘normal’ form, Edenvale uses the latest spinning cone technology to remove the alcohol. “The spinning cone column, which has been custom modified for Edenvale’s specific requirements, works by spinning the wine through a column that separates the alcohol particles from the rest of the wine through evaporation. This is a totally physical process during which no chemicals are added to the wine. The alcohol is removed at a relatively low temperature, ensuring that the integrity and flavour profile of each alcohol removed wine varietal is not compromised. “Edenvale adheres to all the Australian wine standards throughout their wine making process to ensure a quality product and a real wine experience.” To maximise category sales, Mr Andrade advises retailers to increase exposure of non-alcoholic wines by creating larger stand displays and promotions to highlight the product. “It’s also important that retailers support key events through the retail calendar that are aligned to abstinence or moderate drinking, as these are the times of the year when consumers are most aware of non-alcoholic sector,” he said. “We use a mix of promotional pricing, marketing and advertising support for the brand.” Level-headed approach during uncertainty The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenging period for all, with smaller scale businesses and operations arguably being hit the hardest. This, says Level Beverages Managing Director Chrish Graebner, has been the case for the Level Lemonade brand. “It’s been difficult, as you can imagine, for a start-up like ours,” he said. “With Level Lemonade, we were just really, really starting to go well. “Yet, Level Lemonade is highly dependent on petrol and convenience ... When people don’t go out, they don’t drive anywhere. And if they do drive and fill up \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\[with fuel\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\], they don’t wander about the fridge and \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\[aren’t\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\] inspired by discovering something new.” Mr Graebner notes that some of Level’s smaller regional retailers and distributors have struggled significantly this year. Pre-pandemic, he says, business with these channels had been going quite well. “So, I had a few \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\[retailers and distributors\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\] telling me that ‘I can’t pay you’, or ‘can you please pick up your stock because I can’t sell it to anyone because the cafes/shops are all closed here’. “For a small business, that can easily become a commercially life-threatening situation. But we’ve been able to work through this, especially since some of our larger suppliers have been very understanding.” A ‘lifesaving’ factor for the brand, however, is the ever-growing awareness around health and better-for- you choices. “The better-for-you segment was the fastest growing food/beverage segment before all this happened,” Mr Graebner said. “But now, it certainly is, even more. People are more concerned, more aware.” He believes a drink such as Level Lemonade, promoted as low in sugar and high in vitamin C and magnesium, plays an important role in this type of environment. “Vitamin C gets ever better press these days and we certainly get a tremendous amount of positive feedback on the magnesium focus,” Mr Graebner said. “During the pandemic, online sales for Level Lemonade \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\[have been\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\] up fivefold. This is owed to people not being able to find the product in the trade sufficiently yet.” He mentions that Level Lemonade sales have already picked up again – “significantly” in June – adding that new flavour additions are in the pipeline for summer this year. “We have a lot of reasons to be optimistic,” Mr Graebner said. “As restrictions ease, so will consumers’ mindset – and likely their interest in innovative, better-for-you products that are 100 per cent produced in Australia.” TO PAGE 36 BEVERAGES JUL/AUG, 2020 CONVENIENCE WORLD 35