about us
Helping create amazing experiences
Who are we
We're the drinks experiences experts
Frankie founded Black Pineapple in 2016 after spending over 25 years in the drinks industry in the UK & NZ. From bartending & running top UK bars through to Sales, Marketing, Brand Activation, Education, and Advocacy. Frankie fundamentally believes that life’s too short to drink shit drinks – and Black Pineapple is here to help!
Favourite cocktail: Mango Chilli Marg
Our People
Ben Newman
General Manager
Ben gained his passion for drinks and operations working in some of the country’s top cocktail spots. Ben’s attention to detail and creativity help to drive and inspire everything that we do.
Favourite cocktail: Cosmo
Chris ‘Crispy’ McClean.
Events Operations
then Restaurants, and then a high-volume cocktail bars in N.Z where he discovered his passion for cocktail making. Crispy’s calm, meticulous approach means that every detail has been thought through ensuring 10/10 cocktails and service at every event we cater.
Favourite cocktail: Tommy’s Margarita
Miles
Trade Cocktail Account Manager
Coming from one of Auckland’s best Cocktail Bars, Miles traded in his shakers at the end of 2022 to join the Black Pineapple Sales team. As your go-to Industry Drinks and Corporate-Gifting Liaison, Miles will be the first one to tell you it’s both his job and his pleasure to cater to your every need. Miles had his first “Wow!” drinks-moment at home in his kitchen meticulously building his first ever Whiskey Sour. After a couple false-starts and a few cracked eggs, that drink’s silky smoothness flipped a switch in Miles’ brain and he’s been obsessed with Classic Cocktails ever since. Now you can catch him crusading to share that same joy with everyone- one delicious drink at a time.
Favourite cocktail: Caribbean Rum Punch
Jessie Billows
Sales Support
What we take care of
What we take care of
Campaign Management
Drinks Concepts
Drinks / Bar Theming
Staff Training and Education
Kit, Ingredients, Procurement
Staffing with experts
Bar & Equipment hire
Pack in / Pack out
Event Execution
Event and Duty Managers
N.Z’s #1 premium cocktail company.
Because life’s too short to drink
sh!t drinks
Black Pineapple was launched by hospitality veteran Frankie Walker in 2017. Frankie worked at drinks giants Lion for 12 years, and has over 30 years experience in the drinks and hospitality industry, in the U.K and N.Z.
“As part of my role with Lion, I’d go to heaps of amazing events and it always struck me.. The venue looks amazing, the food is awesome, the band or DJ are killing it, but the drinks & drinks service are sh!t! (The bigger the event, the worse the drinks).
We’ve now catered thousands of in person events and pride ourselves in the absolute quality of our cocktails, speed of service and awesomeness of staff. Every element has to be perfect and thought through, from the quality of the ice, to the way the team present themselves.
Our journey of deliciousness
When you got locked down at home..
March 2020 and it was illegal to gather in groups. Ruh-roh!!! We went back to the drawing board and in under 12 weeks launched our E-Commerce business, taking the same quality approach to delicious cocktails, packaged up with pro bar gear, glassware and garnishes, delivered to wherever you were, nationwide. We helped Aotearoa get through, one Espresso Martini at a time, and meanwhile saved the business.
*Note we shipped our last E-Commerce order (for now!) in December 23. THANK YOU for your support!
Our journey of deliciousness
When all the hospo workers left the country
In 2023 we answered the call put out by caterers, hotels, stadiums and bars struggling to execute outstanding cocktails, creating a wholesale part of the business.
Our premium Trade Cocktails are now proudly poured by Air New Zealand, Scenic Hotels nationwide and can be enjoyed at Spark Arena, Ellerslie events centre and many, many other locations!
We have some super exciting projects in the pipeline, so follow our journey on our socials, stay in touch and watch this space. Our journey of deliciousness continues as yours is about to begin. Get in touch! Frankie and the Black Pineapple team.
