Michael Anthony Erceg (26 March 1956 – 4 November 2005) was an

Auckland, New Zealand Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

businessman who founded Independent Liquor. Independent Liquor was

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

’s largest independently owned liquor distributor, known for its Ready to Drink (RTD) brands such as KGB, Woodstock and

Vodka Cruiser Vodka Cruiser is a brightly coloured vodka-based alcoholic drink, with an alcohol content of 5%.Sometimes described as an alcopop, this premixed drink is available in seventeen flavours, including guava, lemon, lime, passion fruit, pineapple, ras ...

s. At the time of his death in 2005, Erceg as one of the New Zealand's wealthiest individuals.

Early life

Erceg was born in West Auckland in to a Croatian winemaking family who operated Pacific vineyard in

Te Atatū South Te Atatū South (also written as "Te Atatu South") is a residential suburb in West Auckland, New Zealand. Its location allows the suburb easy access to the city and Henderson town centre. Its elevation allows views back on to the city and Wait� ...

. He attended

Kelston Boys High School Kelston Boys' High School ("KBHS") (Te kura tuarua o nga tamatane o kerehana) is an all-boys state secondary school in Kelston, a suburb in the Waitakere region of Auckland, New Zealand. It was created in 1963 when the roll of Kelston High Scho ...

. Erceg was a top pupil, who skipped sixth form and was awarded Dux of Kelston Boys High School in 1972. Erceg earned his PhD nine years later, from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, and went on to teach math at university level.

Business career

Erceg soon returned to New Zealand to help with his ailing father's wine business in West Auckland. However, after a family disagreement over the direction of the wine company, Erceg left the company and formed Calypso Beverage Company Ltd in 1987. This business evolved to Independent Liquor. Erceg relied upon alternative marketing strategies to combat the larger players in the New Zealand alcohol industry. He provided incentives to their retail customers that helped them increase their

profit margins Profit margin is a measure of profitability. It is calculated by finding the profit as a percentage of the revenue. \text = = There are 3 types of profit margins: gross profit margin, operating profit margin and net profit margin. * Gross Prof ...

. By 2005, Independent Liquor had become the third largest liquor distributor in the country with a 65%

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those units would have a ...

for RTDs. Independent Liquor was also exporting their products to 70 countries. On July 1, 2019, Independent Liquor (NZ) Ltd officially changed its name to Asahi Beverages (NZ) Ltd.

Death

In November 2005, Erceg died in a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

accident. The helicopter he was piloting crashed near

Raglan, New Zealand Raglan is a small beachside town located 48 km west of Hamilton, New Zealand on State Highway 23. It is known for its surfing, and volcanic black sand beaches. History The Ngāti Māhanga iwi occupied the area around Raglan in the lat ...

. Also killed was his passenger, Grolsch International export director Guus Klatte. The wreckage was not found for two weeks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erceg, Michael 1956 births 2005 deaths 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople People educated at Kelston Boys' High School Businesspeople from Auckland University of California, Berkeley alumni New Zealand people of Croatian descent Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents