A year since Suntory Oceania was announced, the drinks giant is inviting industry partners to immerse themselves in its 125-year legacy at the Suntory House experience.
Suntory House is offering a glimpse into the company’s bold ambitions for the future. The exclusive activation makes its debut at SXSW Sydney and will be attended by more than 350 of Suntory’s partners in Oceania. It brings the Suntory spirit to life like never before with the opportunity to experience Suntory’s premium portfolio of beverages against unique backdrops.
Mark Hill, Managing Director of Suntory Global Spirits Oceania, says: “It’s been over a year since we made the announcement about Suntory Oceania, and at that time we spoke about bringing the best of Suntory to Oceania. With Suntory House, we have the opportunity to start showing our partners what this means.
“A big part of it is explaining who Suntory is, sharing a little bit about our wonderful 125-year history and dedication to craftmanship. We have rooms where we showcase our portfolio of amazing brands with the intent to get our partners equally excited about what we’re creating and about partnering with us.”
Capturing the spirit of Yatte Minahare
Suntory House is the true embodiment of Suntory philosophy, and a rare opportunity for the brand to introduce core partners to Yatte Minahare – the favourite saying of Founder Shinjiro Torii and the basis for Suntory’s fearless spirit to dream big.
Darren Fullerton, CEO of Suntory Beverage & Food Oceania, says: “When the opportunity came to create the partnership, with Yatte Minahare in mind, it quickly became a bigger opportunity to bring the best of Suntory to Oceania, and to truly become a Suntory business and show what is possible.
“That’s what the Suntory House is all about, we have invited people into a truly immersive experience to not only see and hear who we are, but to feel the spirit of Suntory innovation.”
Visitors to Suntory House will be guided through five immersive spaces including the Light Waterfall, Streets of Tokyo and Spirits Reimagined – The Founders Way, all showcasing Suntory’s ambitions for the ANZ region, the legacy behind the portfolio and its sustainability commitments.
Experiences include a Japanese omakase-style menu, vibrant streetscapes, an intimate bar, and a digital garden, representing everything from the neon-lit streets of Tokyo to traditional Japanese architecture.
“Apart from sharing our story, our partners will be able to see our brands come to life and meet our highly talented team. They’ll get to experience some of our insights, commercialisation, brand efficacy and marketing, which we believe is best-in-class in this market,” added Hill.
Growing for good
Storytelling is deeply embedded in the spirit of Suntory, and the activation allows the business to share an update on its new $400m carbon-neutral multi-beverage facility in Queensland, where momentum is already building ahead of the official Suntory Oceania launch next year.
The start-of-the-art facility is at the heart of the Oceania journey, set to become the production and distribution hub for more than 40 brands coming from the new partnership, with non-alcoholic production already underway.
Gordon Treanor, Licensed Sales Director for Suntory Oceania, explained: “We’ve invested over $400m building a fully carbon neutral facility with 7000 solar panels and cutting edge technology that enables us to live up to the philosophies that Suntory has believed in for many years. Sustainability, innovation and craftmanship, and our focus on quality, will be paramount.”
Fullerton added: “Part of the DNA for Suntory is growing for good, and as much as growing for good is about long term sustainable growth, it’s also about giving back to society and the planet, and that really comes through in the greenfield plant that we’ve commissioned. It will be carbon neutral, and there is some very unique first-to-market technology being employed and invested in.”
As the largest FMCG investment into Australia in the last decade, the new site will unlock end-to-end ownership of Suntory’s Oceania supply chain, enhancing opportunities to disrupt the beverage market through product development and innovative category growth across the multi-beverage portfolio.
“It’s really important that we’re able to have influence and control over our entire end-to-end supply chain, and this is to ensure that we’re able to adapt and change, and bring innovation and opportunity from across our portfolio to the marketplace in Australia and New Zealand,” stated Treanor.
“This allows us to do that in a way that maintains the quality and craftmanship that we’re focused on, but it also sets a new benchmark in terms of its focus on sustainability and quality.”
With Suntory Oceania set to become fully operational by mid-2025, more than 400 roles will be recruited to bring the partnership to life and drive expanding supply chain and RTM teams.
“We’re looking to recruit a team across all function and geographies, in total bringing on board over 400 new employees into the Suntory family across all areas, including supply chain, sales and commercial,” says Treanor.
“We’re looking for people who are passionate, driven, and excited about the opportunity ahead and the chance to design and build something really special here in the Australian marketplace.”
This article was written by Molly Nicholas and originally appeared in The Shout.
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