Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Gin: Ascending the throne

Published: 14 November, 2019

It’s been on the cards for some time. Back in 2014, there were rumblings that gin was poised to overtake vodka as the UK’s spirit of choice in time for the new decade.

China launches London-based spirits body

Published: 11 November, 2019

A new China-backed international spirits research body has been launched at an event in London.

Wines and spirits instrumental in creating the future’s “creative community hubs”

Published: 07 November, 2019

Wine and spirits stores will be at the forefront of community bonding over the next decade, as retail finds new and inventive ways of keeping customers coming back for more.

On-trade set for Halloween sales hike

Published: 31 October, 2019

Restaurants, bars and pubs are poised to see sales significantly boosted by Halloween as the fright-night continues to gain traction as a ‘big night out’ for adults.

Gin months away from eclipsing vodka as the UK’s biggest spirits category

Published: 30 October, 2019

After years of forecasting and speculation, gin is poised to finally push ahead of vodka as the UK’s biggest spirits category in 2020, with flavoured variants pushing the category to ever greater heights.

Majestic adds host of spirits as part of repositioning

Published: 24 October, 2019

Majestic has added a raft of spirits brands to its portfolio as part of its strategy to become the number one place to buy spirits, alongside wine, in the UK.

Burleighs eyes global success as it smashes crowfunding target

Published: 21 October, 2019

UK distillers Burleighs has its eyes set on becoming a global player in the gin market as it smashes its crowfunding target.

Craft spirits boom drives trademark registration to record high

Published: 21 October, 2019

The booming UK craft spirits industry filed a record number of trademark registrations in the last year, according to research released today.

On nailing the Christmas trade-up

Published: 18 October, 2019

Upselling has always been the name of the game at Christmas. But is there more the on- and off-trade can do? James Lawrence reports

UK is the world’s third largest ecommerce market for alcohol – but can you name one and two?

Published: 17 October, 2019

The UK has been identified as one of the top countries in the world for sales of alcohol online, with a surprising outcome for the first and second spot.

Freixenet Copestick launches I Heart Spirits

Published: 11 October, 2019

Freixenet Copestick has launched an I Heart Spirits range marking the brand’s first launch outside wine.

Strong wine and spirits performance boosts LVMH

Published: 10 October, 2019

Strong quarterly growth in LVMH’s wine and spirits division has helped push the luxury goods group’s third quarter revenues to €13.3bn.

Brandies: unleashing a spirit of adventure

Published: 04 October, 2019

Grape spirits really don’t get a fair deal in UK bars, where even Cognac and Armagnac rarely receive the shelf space or cocktail list presence their global reputations deserve. Grapes are grown and distilled in dozens of other places around the world, but those brandies are largely overlooked as well.