The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) is calling on the government to get rid of plans to raise alcohol duty, to avoid further price rises that will fuel inflation.
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At 1.2kg, the bottle on the table was heavy enough for it to be hard to tell how much wine was in it. But as chief winemaker Ana María Cumsille explained, the biggest market for Viña Carmen Gold, the Chilean producer’s top cuvée, was China, and consumers there “associate weight with quality”. A few weeks later I related this story to a manager at Ardagh glass in Barnsley as I toured their bottle factory. He joked: “We could get three out of one of those!” – and indeed the bottles coming off the production line in front of us weighed just 400g or less.
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Writing about the state of the drinks trade over the past year, it can be hard not to get drawn towards a general sense of gloom. Amid the frustration at a raft of government policies that have unfairly hamstrung the sector, from off-trade to on, one thing that has become clear is the industry is willing to fight for a fairer legislative landscape. The recent revelation that duty receipts have been in decline despite the February tax hike shows that those frustrated across the wine and spirits world were lucid in their critique. Calls for change are all the more vital at present given the Budget is due to be announced on 26 November. Harpers sought the perspective of leading industry figures before the government’s next key policy announcement.
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Today (1 October) marks the commencement of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) levy. It also marks the deadline for which ‘large producers’ under the scheme must report their packaging data for the first half of 2025.
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There was a time where every other headline in spirits industry publications read ‘sustainability’, but it’s not been that way for quite some time. Thanks to the economic headwind we’re all facing (businesses and consumers alike) sustainability has very much slipped down the agenda. Because how can you prioritise the environment in your business, if said business doesn’t survive?
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Kim Wilson, MD of North South Wines, is next up to bat for our Summer Q&A series, charting the year so far for her company and how the trade could be better supported by the Government amid industry turbulence.
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The Wine & Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) has warned that the Welsh government's “confusing proposal” to create a unique Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) “risks creating significant market distortions”.
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Frances Bentley, the dynamic wine buyer for LWC Drinks, adds her insights to our summer Q&A series.
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CEO of Amber Beverage UK, Sam Thackeray is next up in our Summer Q&A series, reflecting on business so far this year and the state of play in the drinks trade.
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The delayed details of the official cost per tonne of glass as part of the government’s EPR scheme have been announced by DEFRA.
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The first iteration of the WSTA Industry Summit since 2019 saw themes of resilience and adaptability underscore the global and domestic challenges explored. Key takeaways from the event included tariff predictions and the need to unwind the ever-frustrating policy burden of “three-word acronyms” from EPR to RAM.
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In a letter sent to the Prime Minister and Chancellor, a coalition of leading pub, hospitality and brewing bodies has laid out its concerns regarding the cost and impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy.
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Figures from across the drinks trade have reacted to the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation which came into effect today (1 April). The new policy which was intended to introduce a “polluters pay principle” regarding packaging waste has faced significant backlash from the drinks industry due to a series of perceived flaws.
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Under the umbrella of UKHospitality (UKH), leading pub and hospitality businesses have written to Defra Secretary of State, Steve Reed, pushing back against a significant flaw in the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme.
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The Extended Producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging scheme is yet another headwind in a now long line of challenges facing the UK drinks trade, with its implementation already well under way, but – some would say predictably – dogged by a lack of clarity and various unknowns.
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The UK’s leading drinks trade associations have written to the government highlighting deep concerns over the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (EPR) scheme, while calling for a meeting with Defra.
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Figures from the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) reveals that the total global export value for Scotch whisky stood at £5.4bn for 2024. This represents a slight decline of 3.7% in exports by value compared to 2023.
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Few followers of Harpers newsfeed could have missed the massive drive by Hallgarten & Novum Wines to bring aboard new agencies and staff in the wake of its acquisition by Coterie Holdings in December 2023. In the past 12 months alone, some 30 producers, along with 300 wines, have been added to the portfolio, backed by 30 new faces that have joined the team. And the upshot is a strengthened import and distribution business that is a serious force to be reckoned with, anchored by the investment and stability that Coterie has been able to provide.
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The WSTA has issued a warning to hundreds of businesses ahead of May’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) deadline.
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