As Paradise Beverages celebrates 65 years in operation, what factors does Mr Spencer feel have been most important to the company’s success and longevity as the producer of Fiji’s most well- loved portfolio of alcoholic bev­erage brands today?

“It has to be our people,” he responds.

“I returned to the business after 16 years and many of the same people were still here.

“One individual recently retired after 47 years of service, while 30 to 35 years of employment is not uncommon.

“Our success hinges on our people and also on our iconic brands – and there is a link.

“Our brands are so well loved. Our people are passionate about the products and pas­sionate about the company.”

Business strategy

Another factor, says Mr Spencer, is the clear business strategy that Paradise has long adhered to, comprising four key pil­lars: “The first is ‘to engage our people’, because without them fully onboard, un­derstanding the business and contribut­ing, we’re not going to be successful with our plans.

“We therefore include and engage them in decision-making and strategy, so they are confident in what we’re doing and why,” he advises.

“The second pillar is ‘to protect our base’ – we used to produce most of everything in the country in terms of beer, RTDs, and spirits.

“But as time goes on, you obviously have competitors coming in – be they trying to brew locally or importing products.

“So, it’s important to protect our base, and we have a lot of strategies surround­ing that,” he tells us.

“The third pillar is ‘to excite the mar­ket’, which is all about innovating with new products,” notes Mr Spencer, with a diverse array of NPD projects amply dem­onstrating commitment to this strategy.

“The fourth pillar is about ‘sharing our success’,” he continues, “and helping the people of Fiji as we become more success­ful.”

Sponsorship

The company’s activities in this respect are wide-reaching, not least in light of its vast array of sponsorship programmes, which the GM says are “all about develop­ing people – whether that be in sport, mu­sic, the arts, or the fashion industry”.

Across the Pacific, rugby clearly domi­nates the sporting calendar – and Paradise sponsors no less than 14 rugby competi­tions within Fiji (one in every province).

“That sponsorship money is used by the community to develop their villages. Some players having gone on to play for Fiji’s na­tional team,” he reports.

Fiji’s rugby sevens team won its inau­gural gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics and retained the top spot at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo – and all of those players came through Paradise-sponsored tournaments, notes Mr Spencer.

Paradise also sponsors Fiji Rugby Un­ion’s domestic team, the Fijian Drua, whose recent success led to it becoming part of “the toughest competition in the world”– the Aussie and NZ dominated Su­per Rugby Pacific – marking the first time a Fijian team has been included in the con­test.

“It makes us proud to have our logo on their kit and to be associated with their success,” the GM enthuses.

“We helped in the development of those players and they’re now out there on the world stage.”

In a broader sense, Paradise is a major contributor to the nation’s economy as one of its top taxpayers.

“Beyond that, we help out wherever we can – for instance, in the event of natu­ral disasters such as cyclones or flooding, which are annual events ” he tells us.

“When Covid-19 hit, our distillery pro­duced 25,000 litres of hand sanitiser free-of-charge for the government. This was

obviously a costly exercise for us, yet it was something we felt we could do to help – and we’ve actually kept that going since.”

Feedbacks: selita.bolanavanua@fijisun.com.fj