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THE DRINKS INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL RETAIL CHALLENGE celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The challenge was initially launched to celebrate the importance of the drinks sector within the duty free retail industry. Despite multiple trials, the category remains a vital part of the duty free mix, accounting for more than 16% of all duty free and travel retail sales in 2015 and worth more than $10.2bn a year.

The event quickly became a popular addition to the calendar of launches, cocktail and awards events held at the TFWA exhibition in Cannes, concise in format but a great networking opportunity. This year’s challenge comprises eight operator and seven supplier awards, to be announced at Hotel Majestic, Cannes, on October 4.

The Travel Retail Challenge has always adapted to the changing nature of this fast-paced retail sector and 2016 is no exception.

We have added an Airport Bar of the Year award to reflect the growing sophistication and diversity of the airport on-trade scene, as well as an Innovation award to honour suppliers willing to push the boundaries. The winners of this and Drinks Buyer of the Year will be announced on the night.

The line-up of judges this year contained some old and new faces. Joe Bates, Drinks International’s long-standing travel retail correspondent, returned as head judge, alongside magazine publisher Justin Smith. Making their debut were Karen Sparrow, director of operations at inflight retailer DFASS UK; Nicola Ridges-Jones, managing director of MSX, bonded warehouse and distribution company to UK airport stores, cruise lines and airlines; and Row Holland, veteran travel retail PR consultant.

And reflecting the growing importance of the blogging community to the drinks trade, the last of the year’s judges was French whisky writer Anne-Sophie Bigot. She blogs on her own site, thewhiskylady.net, and has been writing about whisky since 1990.

The quality of entries this year was definitely up with suppliers and operators putting much more thought into their submissions. Many employed supporting video content and detailed statistical evidence of their success.

Reflecting broader trends in the market, there were a higher number

of entries from single malt whiskies and premium wines, but fewer competitors from white spirits and liqueurs.

AIRPORT BAR OF THE YEAR

The first outing for this new award attracted two impressive shortlisted entries from Dubai-based Emirates Leisure Group (ELG).

The US sports-themed The Draft House opened in Terminal 3 of Dubai airport in February this year, serving up craft brews and 18 screens of sports. In its first few months the Draft House has generated the highest average per passenger spend of any restaurant or bar in the terminal.

The Brisbane River Grill, the second shortlisted entry from ELG, recently opened at Sydney airport. It serves draft and bottled beers, classic cocktails and Australian wines and generated nearly $1m in sales in its first 33 weeks of trading.

Finally, the new Nicholas Culpeper pub and diner at London Gatwick’s North Terminal also caught the attention of the judges. This light, airy restaurant, cocktail bar and bottle shop features its own in-house gin distillery – a world first for an airport,

AIRPORT RETAILER OF THE YEAR (MULTIPLE LOCATION)

German travel retailer Gebr Heinemann once again caught the eye of the judges with its passionate promotion of regional wines at major hub airports such as Frankfurt and Sydney, as well as the recent opening of the world’s largest airport arrivals store at Oslo airport, which champions Norwegian craft beers, high-end cognac and more than 200 different wines.

World Duty Free (Dufry) is our second contender for this award. It won favour for its annual malt whisky festival at UK airport shops, as well as plaudits for new stores at Edinburgh, Manchester and Helsinki airports.

AIRPORT RETAILER OF THE YEAR (SINGLE LOCATION)

Currency devaluations and a drop in high-spending Russian travellers have proved challenging for Dubai Duty Free, one of our short-listed entries in this category. Yet the world’s single largest one-location duty free retailer, whose liquor sales totalled more than $297m last year, has come out fighting, staging price-driven promotions and raising the average price per bottle of liquor sold.

Meanwhile, Schiphol Airport Retail, our second shortlisted entry for this award, secured a major coup earlier this year by becoming the only European airport operator to open a Johnnie Walker House.

The stunning two-story outlet features an upper-floor sampling bar, multisensory exhibits and a wide range of travel exclusives.

FERRY/CRUISE LINE DRINKS RETAILER OF THE YEAR

Shortlisted entries for this award included an impressive effort from Guernsey-based Condor Ferries, which majors on its ability to offer passengers proper duty free savings, and the much larger P&O Ferries, which operates services between the UK and France, Belgium, Holland and Ireland. P&O Ferries has innovated within its beer, wine and spirits business with pop-up stores, beer festivals, sports-themed bar promotions, targeted marketing campaigns and staff training.

IN-FLIGHT DRINKS RETAILER OF THE YEAR

The space-constricted world of inflight retailing is a hard environment in which to shine, but our two shortlisted companies have done just that. Korean Air offers passengers a wide range of ways to shop, including online pre-order, and has even opened in-flight shops on some of its new A380 aircraft.

Virgin Atlantic has also excelled, offering passengers exclusive spirits onboard and opening upscale pop-up cocktail bars at its Heathrow Clubhouse in partnership with leading cocktail bars.

MARKETING CONCEPT BY A TRAVEL RETAIL OPERATOR

This award attracted some excellent entries, such as P&O Ferries’ clever Wedding Campaign, which targeted savvy shoppers travelling to France to stock up on wine and champagne for their wedding receptions back home.

Aer Rianta also submitted an impressive entry, detailing its efforts to promote Baileys at Dublin airport by offering passengers personalised bottles. The activation led to a 43% jump in average spend per passenger on Baileys.

The third finalist, Delhi Duty Free, gave consumers the opportunity to mingle with whisky experts and endeavoured to make them feel like whisky connoisseurs.

PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR – RETAILER & SUPPLIER

This award was one of the most hotly contested in the competition. Dubai airport fine wine and spirit retailer Le Clos outlined its close partnership with The Macallan, detailing its opening of a branded shop-in-shop at its new outlet in Terminal 3, as well as being the exclusive launchpad for the new Macallan Golden Age of Travel range. The retailer even stages downtown events in Dubai to promote The Macallan.

Family-owned Teeling Whiskey Company and Irish airport retailer Aer Rianta International are our second shortlisted partnership. The Dublin-based company has provided five exclusive whiskeys to the operator’s Dublin airport The Irish Whiskey Collection outlet, and collaborated with whiskey-loving airport shop staff to create The Aviators Single Cask, which sold out in six weeks.

DRINKS LAUNCH AT TFWA CANNES

Our two finalists in this sector were Stoli Gluten Free, a new buckwheat and corn-based vodka, targeted at the one in five adult consumers trying to incorporate gluten-free products in their diet, and Voga Vodka, an intriguingly packaged Italian vodka made from Italian wheat filtered through Nebbiolo grape must.

DRINKS LAUNCH OF THE YEAR

This always competitive category saw two finalists stand out from the crowd: the luxuriously packaged Glencadam 25 Year Old Highland single malt whisky, limited to 650 bottles, and the Chapoutier Ermitage Mathusalem 2010 Collection, which comprised six mathusalems of the 2010 vintage, launched exclusively with Le Clos at Dubai airport.

As part of the latter launch Michael Chapoutier himself hosted a special masterclass for 50 VIP Le Clos customers in Dubai interested in participating in a silent auction for the wines.

TRAVEL RETAIL EXCLUSIVE OF THE YEAR

Of all the supplier awards this one was the most fiercely contested with entries hailing for multiple sub-sectors.

Shortlisted entries included the Chapoutier Ermitage Mathusalem 2010 Collection, Johnnie Walker Green Label, a smoky blended malt addition to the Johnnie Walker family, which received excellent coverage in the trade press and on social media platforms, and the smoky Macallan Rare Cask.

Within nine month of its release, this unusual Macallan expression became the best-selling single malt in duty free priced above $300.

Tomintoul Five Decades is the last of our shortlisted contenders – an ambitious collection of five rare whiskies spanning five decades, from 1965 to 2005, each one representing unique flavour profiles from that decade.

NEW/REPACKAGING OF A DRINKS BRAND

Standout entries for this award included the new, more premium Amarula Jabulani bottle, which

highlights the brand’s long-standing links to the endangered elephants that eat the marula fruit the liqueur is made from, as well as Ballantine’s Signature Oak Edition, whose bottle label and outer packaging feature clever hot-foil and embossing techniques to create an authentic oak barrel effect.

The last finalist is the stunning Johnnie Walker House Blue Label Casks Edition – Schiphol Limited Edition, which is exclusively sold at the new Johnnie Walker House at Schiphol airport.

Illustrated by local artist Merjin Hos, the ceramic bottle features the famous Striding Man travelling from Scotland to Schiphol in a large wooden clog surrounded by iconic tulips, windmills and bicycles.

PRESENTATION BOX OF THE YEAR

Wine packaging doesn’t come more distinctive than the contemporary brown metal gift tin and minimalist bottle of Bruichladdich 2007 CC, our first finalist for this award, which both feature a lot of explanatory text on the liquid within, perfect for those whisky enthusiasts.

Secondly, the €44,000 Centenary Box from Gerard Bertrand, our last contender in this category, is inspired by traditional French royal furniture, and contains 18 key-locked wooden compartments, each one containing a rare Roussillon fortified wine.

MARKETING CONCEPT OF THE YEAR

The Jameson Be #BeOriginal360 experiential campaign at London Gatwick airport impressed the judges in its targeted focus and many elements. Focused on St Patrick’s Day, the activation invited young LDA travellers to take 360° photos of themselves in a special concourse photo booth in order to win a St Patrick’s Day trip to Dublin, which was filmed by lifestyle consumer website LADBible.

Johnnie Walker, our second finalist, staged a multi-location, gifting-driven activation at 33 hub airports worldwide. It used the brand’s latest Gentlemen’s Wager advert starring Jude Law, helping to drive volumes up 41%.