Education Series

Exporting: Wednesday 15 May, 9am – 10am

We’ll be joined by Ami Mitchel from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise who will provide an overview of the resources and support available to us through NZTE.  We’ll then hear from Sarah Bonoma from Dancing Sands Distillery, who will talk about how they’ve worked with NZTE and share some of their export journey so far.  We’ll finish with a Q&A session.  Send any questions you have in advance to info@distilledspritisaotearoa.org.nz

Ami Mitchell – NZTE, Customer Capability Programme Manager

I love a good story, most people do. Businesses that tell an engaging and thoughtful story are the ones that you remember. I’m passionate about growing innovative companies within New Zealand and globally by helping them build and deliver impactful strategies that shape and tell their stories to as many people as possible.

Sarah Bonoma – Founder / Managing Director, Dancing Sands Distillery

Sarah oversees the nuts and bolts of how Dancing Sands works – leading their team and making sure the wheels of our distillery machine continue to turn. Dancing Sands exports to the UK, USA, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and the Philippines.

You will need to register in advance for this meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Digital Marketing : Wednesday 19 June, 6.30pm – 7.30pm

DSA Member and co-founder of Papaiti Distillery, Nikki Oesterle is also a digital marketing expert and consultant and we’re delighted she will join us to help us upskill in this vitally important marketing medium.

Nikki Oesterle – Co-Founder Papaiti Distillery and Apista Consulting’s Principal Brand & Marketing Consultant

Nikki has over 17 years experience across a wide range of industries in New Zealand and overseas. Nikki is particularly passionate about sharing her skills with small business owners, enabling them to grow their business without wasting time on the wrong platform and targeting the wrong audience. She is an expert when it comes to:

• Digital Brand Building
• Social Media Strategy
• Social Media Management
• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
• Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
• Content Strategy & Development
• Digital Communications & Direct Marketing

You will need to register in advance for this meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Safety and Compliance: Wednesday 17 July, time TBC

This is a critical area that we need to constantly keep upskilling on.  The team at BECA who gave a wonderful presentation at last year’s conference will be back to continue the discussion on improving distillery safety and compliance.  This will be especially important for new and established distilleries alike. More details to follow.

Investment for Growth, 21 August, 6.30pm – 7.30pm

This will be a very interesting ad highly relevant session from industry growth expert, Troy Trewin.

Since 2011 Troy has been managing and growing whisky businesses in Australia and New Zealand, as CEO of three separate and well-respected brands. In recent years he has been advising other up-and-coming distilleries, or those already in a fast-growth phase.

Troy’s passion is helping distillery founders grasp the true economics and realities of growing a spirit business from nothing, or with limited capital, to something of meaning in the industry and great value. Since early 2017 Troy has been the Chairperson of fast-growing craft brewery, Hobart Brewing Co – the second largest craft brewer in Tasmania.

In late 2019 Troy started hosting a weekly podcast, interviewing small business owners with 5 to 30 team members, who grew their business to something bigger.

With over 500 episodes, the Grow A Small Business is one of the best small business podcasts in Australia – they are now ranked in the top 50,000 (1.5%) of all 3.1m podcasts in the world.

You can listen to the podcasts Troy has done with distillery owners.

You will need to register in advance for this meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.