Aperol is taking one more job off the summer host’s list with a new 750ml bottle that already has the Aperol, prosecco and soda mixed in. Australia is the first market to be getting the ready-to-serve bottle, which pours with the same bittersweet flavour and bright orange colour people have come to expect from the classic spritz, with a simple orange slice garnish to seal the deal, of course. The larger format is designed to share, which works well for the kind of get-togethers Aperol has become closely associated with. Instead of mixing individual drinks, hosts can pour straight from the bottle for parties, bigger gatherings, balcony drinks, dinner with friends or a Sunday catch-up. “Australians have truly embraced the Aperol Spritz and the social occasions that come with it,” said Jacopo Borsa, Managing Director, Campari Group Australia. “With our new Aperol Spritz 750ml bottle, we’re making it easier than ever to enjoy those moments at home. It’s ready to pop whenever friends pop by, delivering the iconic Aperol Spritz experience in a format that’s convenient, shareable and perfect for spontaneous get-togethers.” The convenience of it all comes at a great time as more Australians continue to opt for spritzes. Not to mention the uptick in Ready-to-Drink (RTD) purchases among the younger cohort. The spritz category has grown 49% in dollar value year on year, and the drink has moved well past being something ordered only when the weather warms up. Spritzes now show up across daytime social occasions, casual entertaining and group catch-ups, while Aperol Spritz itself has become a familiar order in bars and restaurants around the country. The 750ml bottle takes that same serve out of hospitality and into the fridge at home, keeping the flavour profile intact without asking anyone to measure Aperol, top with prosecco and finish with soda one glass at a time. The launch also reflects a broader appetite for premium drinks that are easier to serve at home, particularly when entertaining is more spontaneous than planned. The Aperol Spritz 750ml bottle is available nationally from October 7 and can be found in the wine fridge at bottle shops for RRP $30. Source: Omnicom Find more food retail updates on Crumb Wire.

For almost 20 years, Lucky Coq has been one of those Chapel Street names people know before they even remember exactly which night they ended up there. Later this spring, the corner venue will return as Lucky’s. Morris Hospitality is giving the Chapel and High Streets site a broader brief this time around, turning it into a restaurant, bar and music venue designed to carry people through the whole night rather than just the late part of it. Grace Dorman, Morris Hospitality Head of Marketing and Sales, said, “Melburnians know this corner and so many people have their own Lucky Coq story. It has been part of Chapel Street nightlife for almost 20 years, so we wanted to acknowledge that history without simply recreating it.” Guests will be able to start with dinner, move into drinks and stay on as DJs take over later in the evening. Food will play a much bigger role than it did under the Lucky Coq name, with shareable dishes planned alongside a stronger drinks program and curated music schedule. “Lucky’s is about giving people more reasons to come in, and more reasons to stay. You might book a table for dinner, move into drinks and then realise a few hours later that the DJs have taken over and you’re still here,” Dorman added. “We want it to have the energy of a great night out, but also the familiarity and accessibility of a great local – somewhere you can come back to again and again.” Over almost two decades, Lucky Coq became closely tied to late nights on Chapel Street, packed dancefloors and the sort of nights that tended to run much longer than planned. Lucky’s will keep some of that familiarity without trying to recreate the venue as it was. Morris Hospitality is instead opening up the earlier part of the night, aiming for a venue that works as comfortably for dinner with friends as it does for drinks at the bar or staying on once the music picks up. The change also gives the site a wider role on a strip that has long been known for nightlife but now asks more of its venues than a packed room after dark. Lucky’s is slated to open in late spring 2026 at 179 Chapel Street, Windsor, with full details on the food, drinks, music and venue transformation to be announced in the coming weeks. Source: littleBIG Marketing Find more dining out updates on Crumb Wire.

A professional cricketer, then a lawyer, then a founder: Matthew Bennett has taken an unlikely road to the snack aisle. In this Crumb Wire profile, he talks about the daughter who inspired Nibblish, sourcing quality fruit, and a business that nearly didn’t survive COVID. Tell us a bit about yourself – what’s your background and what led you to the world of food and drink? I actually came to food completely sideways. I played cricket professionally in the UK when I was younger, then trained and practised as a lawyer over there before moving to New Zealand. I had zero food industry background – everything I know about this business has been learned by doing. Nibblish started because my daughter Imogen was born with a number of allergies, and there just wasn’t anything on the market that was genuinely additive-free and allergen-free that we felt good giving her. We started dehydrating fruit at home, and when friends started taking all of it off my hands, I realised there might be something in it. Tell us about the product. What makes it unique? Nibblish is 100% real fruit – no added sugar, no preservatives, nothing else in the ingredient list. The other thing that sets us apart is how it’s made: we gently bake our fruit rather than dry it, which is a completely different process and gives you a texture and flavour you don’t get from typical dried fruit snacks. We source our mango and pineapple from Ghana – not because we outgrew the kitchen, but because that fruit doesn’t grow in New Zealand, so we had to go to where it’s actually grown. We spent a long time travelling and testing before we landed there, because it turns out fruit variety matters enormously to how the end product turns out. We work directly with growers on fair wages and safe conditions, and the sites run on solar power with recycled water. Talk us through the journey of your brand. What have been some of the key achievements and challenges along the way? We launched Nibblish at the end of 2018 but had spent about two years before that commercialising the product – finding the right growing and processing partners, getting the recipe right. By 2019 Nibblish mango was the biggest-selling healthy snack in New Zealand. We launched into Woolworths Australia in 2021 and Coles a year later in 2022, and we’re now in more than 2,000 stores across Australia and New Zealand. The toughest period was COVID – we had a container due in September that didn’t arrive until the following February, caught up in port delays right around the world. It took us the best part of two years to properly recover and rebuild the business so we weren’t as exposed to that kind of shock again. These days we’re selling just over six products a minute during trading hours across Australia and New Zealand, which still stops me in my tracks a bit when I think about where it started. How has the Australian market responded to the brand and what has surprised you most? Really strongly. Coles sales are up 48% and Woolworths Australia is up 33% year on year, and about half our range now sits in the top quartile of performers in Woolworths’ Healthy Snacking category. What’s surprised me most is how much the brand has resonated with Australian shoppers. Consumers understand that something that’s genuinely just fruit, with nothing else in it is better for them. I think people are more label-literate than they used to be, and once they flip the pack over and see there’s nothing to hide, that does a lot of the selling for us. What is one thing you wish more people knew about the work you do? How much thinking goes into sourcing before a single piece of fruit gets baked? People assume we went to Ghana to scale up production, or because it’s cheaper but it’s the opposite – the fruit needed to come from where it actually grows well, and the variety that grows there is critical to the particular process we use to bake the fruit.  Different varieties from different regions behave completely differently once you start processing them. We tested for a long time – there was a period where I was shipping fruit samples all over the world just to compare varieties and partners – before we found growers who were willing to buy into what we were trying to build, not just take an order. That relationship is the foundation of the whole business. How do you see food and drink culture in Australia evolving and how does your brand fit in? I think Australian shoppers are moving away from the idea that eating well means sacrifice. People don’t want to be told off about what’s in the pantry – they want permission to feel good about an easy choice, without it feeling like punishment. That’s exactly the space we’ve built Nibblish for: it’s not a diet snack, it’s a nourishment brand. We’re not trying to be extreme or preachy about it – most of our customers are having a Nibblish and something far less virtuous in the same day, and that’s fine by us. As long as fruit becomes an easier, more obvious choice more often, we’re doing our job. What keeps you inspired as a founder? Honestly, it still comes back to Imogen and the original reason we started this. Every time I see a mum picking up a pack because she wants something she can hand her kids without a second thought, it reminds me why we did this in the first place. Beyond that, it’s the growth – watching something that started on my kitchen bench end up in thousands of stores, and now looking at markets like China, keeps me energised. There’s still so much building left to do. What’s next for you and the brand? We’re in the advanced stages of entering into China...

Gelatissimo is giving Club Gelato members a free small cup or cone of its new Dulce de Leche flavour this Sunday when they buy any scoop. The limited-edition gelato uses dulce de leche from Argentinian producer Havanna, swirled through fresh gelato in thick ribbons. Despite often being lumped in with caramel, dulce de leche is its own thing. The name translates roughly to ‘sweet made of milk’, and it is made by slowly cooking milk and sugar together until the mixture turns thick, glossy and golden. That deeper toasted flavour comes from the Maillard reaction, the same browning process that turns bread into toast. “Dulce de leche is such a distinctive flavour, and we wanted it to really shine rather than treating it as a caramel flavour, so we let its rich, unmistakable character do the talking: decadent and seriously moreish,” said Eleanor Bruinenberg, Head of Marketing at Gelatissimo. One of the best-known origin stories dates to Argentina in 1829, when a maid on the estate of Juan Manuel de Rosas is said to have left a pot of milk and sugar on the fire after rival general Juan Lavalle arrived unexpectedly. By the time anyone returned to it, the mixture had cooked down into something much closer to the dulce de leche eaten today. Argentina and Uruguay have both claimed a connection to the sweet over the years, eventually recognising it as part of the cultural heritage of the Río de la Plata region. Argentinians now eat more than two kilos of dulce de leche per person each year, and October 11 has been marked as International Dulce de Leche Day since 1998. “International Dulce de Leche Day gave us the perfect excuse to celebrate it properly. Whether they’re already dulce de leche fans or just after a sweet treat this Sunday, we’re giving Aussies a pretty good reason to say yes to a second serving.” Club Gelato members who buy any scoop in store on Sunday, October 11 can scan their membership card in the app to receive a free small cup or cone of Dulce de Leche gelato. New members who sign up on the day can also redeem the offer. The giveaway is available at participating Gelatissimo stores across Australia while stocks last, with the Dulce de Leche flavour on menus nationwide for a limited time. Source: Forward Agency Find more food and drink news on Crumb Wire.