Gen Zs guzzling Hard Rated as Dan Murphy’s amps up security measures
By Jessica Yun
Liquor merchants Dan Murphy’s and BWS have increased spending on security and equipment following bouts of organised theft at stores as the “fast fashion” of popular alcoholic soft drinks, such as Hard Rated, are keeping Gen Zs and Millennial customers flocking to stores for canned drinks on the go.
Kate Beattie, interim chief executive of Endeavour Group, said on Monday the company has had to introduce body-worn cameras and augmented reality technology at its stores to protect its workers.
“We’re doing things like leveraging virtual reality technology to train our team to respond well to threatening situations, and that’s … to not escalate a situation and make sure they keep themselves safe,” Beattie said.
“We’re enabling some of our team to trial things like body-worn cameras, so that they track their movement around the store and make sure they … minimise their manual handling risks.”
Sales at Dan Murphy’s and BWS have dipped as drinkers flock to pubs and hotels.Credit: Wolter Peeters
Endeavour operates a network of more than 350 pubs and hotels, as well as more than 1600 Dan Murphy’s and BWS stores. Beattie said on Monday that it has started putting more security guards outside some “high-risk” stores and installing “lockout buttons for our teams to lock out people approaching that they think look threatening”.
The liquor chains are two of many major businesses grappling with organised crime syndicates that have turned stealing from supermarkets into a living. Rebel Sports operator Super Retail Group this month posted lower margins as a result of theft, particularly in Victoria.
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan on Monday said her government was working to help businesses experiencing retail theft, pointing to its recent move to strengthen bail laws. The state government has previously announced legislation that imposes tougher penalties on “people who engage in retail worker harm”.
“I announced this last year that we’ll be bringing in retail worker protection legislation, recognising that retail workers are often on the front line, and they shouldn’t be copping abuse, and they should certainly not be copping any criminal behaviour,” Allan said.
Endeavour, which posted its full-year results on Monday, said the practice of Australians hitting the pub instead of drinking at home had hurt its overall sales for financial year 2025.
Beattie said its pubs were getting fancier and pulling in more customers, helping its hotels business increase sales, as foot traffic to Dan Murphy’s and BWS slid backwards.
“We’re seeing a subtle shift in where and when people enjoy the drinking occasion,” Beattie said.
“Instead of having a bottle of wine at home with your dinner on a Tuesday night, they’re going to pub trivia on a Wednesday night. So they’re still in the category, they’re just choosing to socialise in a different way.”
Tali Ross, interim chief financial officer, and Kate Beattie, interim CEO at Endeavour Group.
Although alcohol consumption has been on a long-term decline among younger Australians, who are drinking less frequently than their predecessors, Beattie said pre-mixed spirits in cans and bottles – sometimes referred to as alcopops or RTDs (ready-to-drinks) – are “booming”.
“It really is a fast-fashion category,” she said.
“The Hard Rated phenomenon has seen the recently launched orange flavour [become] the single biggest-ever selling new product release. That talks to the ongoing strong participation. When there’s a product that people want to try, they’re in droves.”
Liquor sellers have benefited from the strong appetite for Hard Rated, which hasn’t diminished despite its controversial launch to market as Hard Solo. Its manufacturer, CUB, was forced to change its name after an industry body found the product breached the industry code by appealing to minors.
Beattie, who stepped into the role after executive chairman Ari Mervis unexpectedly quit this month over “disagreements with the board”, declined to comment on whether the company was losing market share to Coles, which will report its full-year results on Tuesday. She said she expected to see retail sales improve.
“Dan Murphy’s performs like no other retailer when people have an occasion to buy up,” she said.
Early indications for the new financial year show hotel sales have continued to rise (up 4.4 per cent), while Dan Murphy’s and BWS sales continue to trend downwards (-1.3 per cent) for the first seven weeks of fiscal year 2026.
Endeavour posted flat group sales of $12.1 billion for the 2025 financial year, down 0.3 per cent. Its pubs and hotel venues notched a 4.1 per cent lift to $2.1 billion, supported by growth in gambling revenue in Queensland and Victoria. More than 1000 gambling machines were replaced and upgraded during the year.
Meanwhile, sales across its retail stores slid 1.2 per cent, with Woolworths’ worker strike action late last year wiping out up to $60 million in lost sales.
Group earnings fell 11 per cent to $926 million, and net profit declined 15.8 per cent to $426 million after accounting for $11 million in restructuring costs. The company declared a fully franked final dividend of 6.3¢ a share.
Investors didn’t seem thrilled with the update, with the company’s share price closing the day 1.4 per cent lower at $4.14.
The company’s ongoing leadership turbulence has been the subject of scrutiny for years after pubs billionaire and major shareholder Bruce Mathieson led attempts to depose then-chairman Peter Hearl, who eventually stepped down.
After long-time chief executive Steve Donohue’s resignation surprised the market, Endeavour announced former Virgin chief Jayne Hrdlicka would take the job. She is due to officially begin in the role at the start of next year. Executive chairman Ari Mervis this month abruptly departed the business, citing “disagreements with the board”.
The board has tapped Bain & Company, Hrdlicka’s former employer, to conduct a strategic review of the company that will assess performance drivers across its various businesses.
With Chip Le Grand
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