Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Aldi loses gin court battle to M&S

Published: 29 February, 2024

Discounter Aldi has lost its appeal against a High Court ruling which found it had copied the design of Marks & Spencer’s light-up Christmas gin bottles.

English canned wine brand secures £1.2m investment

Published: 15 February, 2024

Canned wine producer, The Uncommon, has secured £1.2m in private backing, focusing on scaling up production of its English wine to meet growing demand in alternative formats.

Multiples: Mixed Xmas 2023 for BWS

Published: 12 February, 2024

Some supermarkets reported buoyant sales over the festive period. James Bayley crunches the numbers.

Multiples: Healthy year-round growth for low & no

Published: 22 January, 2024

Supermarkets are reporting a consistent uptick in sales of this much-talked about category– and not just during the traditional post-festive period. James Bayley reports.

BWS Christmas sales down for UK multiples

Published: 11 January, 2024

Despite record spend on groceries during Christmas in UK supermarkets, sales of beer, wine and spirits were all in decline over the same period.

Georgia’s Natural Progression

Published: 14 November, 2023

It’s been a decade since Georgian wine hit UK lists. Michael Karam charts the hype, the reality and the what next?

M&S: Championing diversity

Published: 13 October, 2023

Twelve months on from announcing its ‘wine transformation’ exclusively to Harpers, M&S and its new-look range is starting to take shape. James Bayley reports.

Future-proofing Prosecco

Published: 31 May, 2023

Prosecco continues to build momentum in the UK and power onwards on a global scale. Lucy Shaw looks at the trends that continue to revitalise this seemingly invincible category.

Amazon makes own-label play

Published: 13 March, 2023

Amazon has already moved into the grocery sector but is now upping its game with a range of own-label wines, finds James Bayley.

Multiple messages: How retailers are communicating sustainability initiatives

Published: 07 December, 2022

With sustainability such a broad concept, how do retailers communicate the message? Angela Mount asks those at the sharp end.

M&S to rethink wine range

Published: 18 November, 2022

M&S is on a mission to offer “the most exciting wine range on the planet”. James Bayley catches up with head of BWS Andrew Shaw to find out more.

M&S announce ‘Wine Transformation’ set to launch September 2023

Published: 26 October, 2022

In a Harpers exclusive, Andrew Shaw, head of BWS at M&S revealed plans to create the “most exciting wine range on the planet.”

Retail can sometimes feel like the centre of the world in business. It joins customer to distributor and producer, as arbiter of supply and demand. This is particularly true in the wine trade, where its gatekeepers provide a vital entry point into an often obscure product category. However, in this new era of hyper sustainability sensitivity, retail has a less obvious – if equally important – role to play, with less power over sustainability related goals than some might think.

Multiples: Consumers swapping to convenience stores

Published: 12 September, 2022

The pandemic years have shown a marked alteration in the fundamental patterns of shopping. During the first lockdown, there was a noticeable shift to more local shopping, as consumers strove to minimise contact with others. Today it would appear this trend has embedded itself in the very mindset of the average shopper, with convenience stores now accounting for 28.9% of UK grocery shopping.

M&S buyer Yves Fourcade passes away

Published: 02 September, 2021

Yves Fourcade, senior wine buyer at M&S, has passed away after 35 years at the heart of the supermarket’s buying team.

Shaw starts as M&S head of BWS

Published: 04 May, 2021

Andrew Shaw has officially started his new role as head of beers, wines and spirits (BWS) for M&S, a move first announced in November last year.

New M&S Found range champions rare and unusual wines

Published: 07 April, 2021

UK premium retailers M&S has launched a Found range, bringing affordable ‘hidden treasures’ from the wine world to its customers.

M&S goes big on BWS online

Published: 27 August, 2020

M&S is betting heavily on its BWS range online, according to new data from retail analysts Edge Digital Shelf.

M&S job losses signal shift towards flexible working, online and food

Published: 18 August, 2020

M&S has announced it will cull 7,000 members of staff as the company shifts resources towards areas that are expanding, while decreasing resources in the home and clothing departments.