30/03/2020
This page is continually updated as our response to the COVID-19 situation evolves.
Lion’s staged COVID-19 response is driven by three objectives:
- To support Government strategies to restrict the spread of COVID-19
- To support our people’s health and wellbeing
- To maintain supply to our customers and the broader community.
We recognise the role we can all play in helping to safeguard vulnerable members of our community and help ‘flatten the curve’ while continuing to meet the needs of our customers and consumers.
The key steps we are currently taking in support of these objectives are:
Changing the way we work
To support the health and wellbeing of all of our people, those who can work from home are now doing so and we have ceased all overseas and non-critical domestic travel.
Some of our people perform vital roles that can’t be done remotely – like brewing, manufacturing, packaging, engineering and logistics.
To support these teams we’ve put in place extra safeguards like additional personal hygiene measures, physical distancing and changed work patterns both at our sites and also in dealings with our customers, suppliers and other partners.
Continuing supply – alcohol beverages
Stock levels are currently very good and our key facilities are fully operational.
We have multiple scale breweries, so we have strong and effective production continuity plans in place should any one of our breweries be impacted.
It’s important to note that large breweries cannot be turned off and then quickly reactivated and there is strong support in the community for continued production of beer for off-premise consumption.
Governments in the United Kingdom, European Union, United States, Australia and New Zealand have kept retail, takeaway and delivery liquor outlets operating, along with the supply chains that support them.
Continuing supply – dairy and drinks
All our dairy and juice manufacturing sites are operating and we are taking additional steps across agricultural procurement, manufacturing and distribution to ensure no disruption to supply.
We are carefully monitoring supplies and updating availability on a weekly basis and remain confident the additional measures we have introduced will help us continue to serve our customers.
Supporting our hospitality customers in Australia and New Zealand
In line with the Australian Government’s directive, the Nation’s pubs and clubs ceased on-premise operations on Monday 23 March 2020.
With New Zealand now in a state of emergency and lockdown under the government’s COVID 19 Alert Level 4, all bars, pubs, restaurants and cafes are closed as are all liquor stores outside of licensing trust areas. Beer and wine remains available in supermarkets and all products available through on line home delivery companies.
While this move was both necessary and proportionate to the health risk our communities are facing, we also recognise that it’s an incredibly challenging time for everyone involved in the hospitality industry.
At Lion, we are doing everything we can to provide our valued customers with the support they need, including by taking back unused beer kegs at no cost while crediting our customers to help them through this difficult time. In New Zealand we have also postponed our planned wholesale price rise until further notice.
Lion’s own venues
Lion’s own hospitality venues in Australia, New Zealand, The UK, and USA have now also ceased operating until further notice.
This is a tough time for everyone, so we want to support our casual and permanent hospitality team members by continuing to pay any affected staff. We are continuing to assess the situation each week.
