Senior leaders in the Australian drinks industry have marked International Women’s Day by discussing the progress being made to #breakthebias and the benefits that brings.

International Women’s Day 2022’s campaign theme was #BreakTheBias.

“Whether deliberate or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to move ahead. Knowing that bias exists isn’t enough, action is needed to level the playing field,” it noted. “Are you in? Will you actively call out gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping each time you see it? Will you help break the bias? Cross your arms to show solidarity.”

Lion CEO Stuart Irvine (above) shared his thoughts on the company’s approach to diversity and inclusion in a post on LinkedIn.

“As the world comes together to mark International Women’s Day 2022, I applaud the progress society has made in the push for equality, diversity and inclusion,” he said. “I too am also conscious of the work we still must do to break the bias in the workplace.

He noted that it was critical that Lion maintain a culture where its people feel safe in sharing their experiences and feel heard. Their experiences must truly align with our purpose and values.

“To do this we listen…actively. Through multiple listening groups our people have helped us make decisive changes with policies and procedures,” he explained. “We regularly monitor and measure ourselves and our people’s experiences, and hold ourselves to account. We have implemented regular and transparent measures of engagement. We track questions on inclusion, we track incidents, we track and target the diversity of teams. When red flags arise, it is the responsibility of our leaders to go deep. We Make changes and take decisive action.”

In 2017, Lion embarked on a study to measure where it was as an organisation on pay equity and learned it had a 3.2% gap role for role, so it sought immediate Board approval for a $6million investment to rectify this – which it now tracks every six months.

“Our transparency in disclosing the issue established a level of trust with our people on which we built other inclusion programs such as: carer and parental leave (which we have extended and made non role specific), domestic violence leave and support, and flexible working,” Irvine said.

“With a team that better reflects the whole community, we also maximise our opportunities to develop and sell our products to a wide group of customers and consumers. We are committed to bringing together a diverse set of thinkers to contribute to the design and communication of our products and brands to ensure they meet diverse needs.”

Lion Little World Beverages also interviewed women within the organisation about what International Women’s Day means to them. Read what they had to say here.

Pernod Ricard Winemakers achieves senior role balance

Chairman and CEO at Pernod Ricard Winemakers Bryan Fry said it was critical at all levels of leadership to be agents for change when championing diversity and inclusion in their organisations.

“I am a firm believer in the benefits of building diverse and inclusive teams, and have personally benefited from sharing experiences and learning from colleagues and friends of all genders, ages, cultures and backgrounds throughout my career,” he said. “In fact, they have influenced and shaped the leader that I am today.

“Professionally, I am proud that Pernod Ricard Winemakers has now achieved gender balance across senior roles. This is an important milestone and step forward for the business, and forms part of our broader commitment to create a working environment where our teams feel comfortable to truly be themselves and confident to share who they are with the people they work with.

“But, remember it is a journey, not a one year box ticking exercise, and it should be continually ingrained into the thinking and behaviour of our organisation.”

Diageo leaders #breakthebias

By 2030, Diageo aims to achieve 50% representation of women in all leadership roles. Currently, 60% of its Board and 38% of its Executive Committee are women.

The company offers all female employees a minimum of 26 weeks of fully paid maternity leave. In a majority of our markets, including across Europe, North America, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Colombia, Venezuela, and Australia, among others, it also offers 26 weeks fully paid paternity leave. Globally it has a minimum standard of four weeks paternity leave on full rate of pay.

As Julie Hamilton, Chief Commercial Officer at Diageo North America noted: “The future is female. Research is indicating that women drive 70-80% of all consumer purchasing, through a combination of their buying power and influence. Given this reality, it is imperative we have more gender balanced leadership at the very top of organisations. At Diageo we believe that the fastest way to greater diversity at the top is to actively support greater opportunity for women to learn, grow and lead.”

Below, Diageo Australia MD Angus McPherson discusses #breakthebias –

Young Henrys celebrates IWD with brewing scholarship

Newtown brewers Young Henrys marked International Women’s Day by announcing their latest initiative to create more opportunities in the brewing industry for women, female identifying and non-binary folk with the Young Henrys Brewing Scholarship.

Kicking off alongside this year’s International Women’s Day, Young Henrys has committed to funding one woman every year with a Certificate 3 Brewing Course (worth $10,000). This is paired with quarterly mentoring from Young Henrys’ Head Distiller Carla Daunton, Head Brewer Jesse Searls and Rene Delmas from the Young Henrys lab.

Young Henrys co-founder Oscar McMahon added: “The craft beer industry is a pretty fun and exciting place to be. It’s full of open-minded and interesting people but still has a way to go with regard to gender diversity. The Young Henrys Brewers Scholarship is our way of trying to show women [this includes all who identify as women] who may have considered a career in the brewing industry that we want you here, that there are great careers and workplaces waiting for you and that we truly believe the industry will be all the better for it!”

Applications for this year now open and will close on Thursday, March 31. Head to the Young Henrys website for more information.

Women in Distilling website launches

Founder of Nip of Courage Kathleen Davies said she was excited to be launching the new website for Women of Australian Distilling on International Women’s Day.

“Women of Australian Distilling is now officially a collective to promote, encourage and support women and those who identify as women within the Australian Craft Distilling industry,” she said.

“Collaborating with the industry’s peak associations and organisations including WOHO (Women in Hospitality), Australian Distillers Association, Spirits & Cocktails Australia, Australian Gin Distillers Association, Food and Beverage Media and more to be announced shortly. Our company aims to support career development for women in the field of distilling, ambassadorship, marketing, administration, management, cellar door operations and more … A hub for female-led trade and consumer events, courses, networking, PR, mentoring and personal development.”

Coles celebrates women in drinks

Coles has been championing #breakthebias by highlighting the achievements of women in winemaking, brewing and distilling.

Sophie Went, Business Category Manager – Wine at Coles said: “I’m so proud of the work the Coles Group wine team have done to pull together an fantastic celebration of women across our industry throughout the month of March in both Liquorland and First Choice Liquor Market.

“Katherine Brown, Cate Looney, Lisa Truscott, Sarah Andrews, Clare Dry, Helen McCarthy, Sue Hodder, Sarah Pidgeon, Spring Timlin – these are just a few of the incredible women working in liquor that we are celebrating this year throughout the month of March.

“Diversity is a key pillar for us in the Coles Liquor Group, so I couldn’t be prouder that we highlighting the amazing work women are making in the liquor industry – from wine to whisky to craft beers, women are shaking up the scene!”

Two Birds teams up with Endeavour Group to give women returning to work a leg up for IWD

Pictured main: Sandhea Kiran, Narrelle Lukasik, Carol Rodriquez and Laura Vining from Lion’s Supply Chain strike the IWD #BreakTheBias pose.