The week that was

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 24 August, 2018

In case you missed some of the headlines this week on harpers.co.uk, here’s a review of the top online news, analysis, opinions and features.

Top stories: This week Harpers’ attention roamed far and wide, turning our magnifying glass from London where historic merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd is planning to branch out from its St James’s HQ, all the way to Australia.

This year’s crush Down Under will fall short of meeting current demand for Australian wine, said Australian bulk wine specialist Austwine, which means we can expect to see prices being driven upward.

Elsewhere, the Champagne bureau recorded an early harvest on the back of “good weather”.

And we previewed a new online wine club which lists over 400 English wines.

The club, called Winebuyers, has nearly 30,000 different wines from 38 countries on its books as well as English wines are from 14 counties.

Founder Ben Revell called his free-to-join club a place for “wine lovers, no matter their budget, to have access to the very best selection of wines for no additional fee”.

Analysis and Insights: This week we looked at how wine packaging is heading to the next level.

It’s usual in our industry to devote time and energy to what’s going inside the bottle.

But as new and more inventive technologies appear on the horizon, companies are now showing that smart packaging can be a vital tool in the ongoing battle of engaging consumers and decoding shopping habits.

And former supermarket buyer Angela Mount investigated how distributors and producers are shaping up to meet buyer demands as routes to market narrow.

People and Opinion: From cricket legend to winemaker, Sir Ian ‘Beefy’ Botham spoke to Harpers about his seminal wine moment and not creating a “celebrity” wine range.

And we continued our meet the buyers series which this month focuses on local champions working in the regional independent sector.

Click on the link below to hear from Mark Crawford, business development at Exel Wines in Perth.

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