Marks & Spencer 'specialist positioning' enhances growth in food business

Marks and Spencer's food business is continuing to "outperform" the market, with sales growth up 3.6% or 1% on a like-for-like basis.

Five independent merchants win Wines of Chile promotion

Five independent wine merchants from across the country have won a buying trip to Chile for their "innovative and quirky" promotions around Chilean wine.

Naked Wines urges suppliers angered by Majestic's funding request to switch supply to them

Naked Wines is offering any Majestic supplier angered at being asked to pay an extra 4p on every bottle sold to help fund its new warehouse, to switch supply to itself where it will promise the price agreed will be the price paid.

One in five Brits aged 25 to 34 admit to drinking a bottle of wine in a sitting

One in five Britons aged 25 to 34 admits to drinking an entire bottle of wine to themselves, according to a Harris Interactive poll produced in collaboration with the Grocer. 

Virgin Wines teams up with Hardys with an exclusive range

Online retailer Virgin Wines has teamed up with Accolade Wines' Australian brand Hardys to create a new range especially for Virgin's customers.

Naked Wines' angels recruit top Champagne maker JP Moulin

Naked Wines' angels have raised £500,000 to allow Jean Phillippe Moulin, former Ruinart, Mumm and Baron de Rothschild winemaker, to launch his own Champagne line.

Google chief: social media gives wine the chance to shine

Social media platforms like YouTube give the wine industry the chance to connect directly with consumers in a way traditional media channels such as TV and newspapers have always denied them, according to Google's Hamish Nicklin.

Digital technology is a 'disruptive' force for the wine trade hears DWCC

Technology is having a 'disruptive' effect on how wine businesses are run delegates at the Digital Wine Communications Conference heard this weekend in Montreux, Switzerland. 

Caroline Gilby MW uncovers Cyprus's burgeoning wine industry

Sun, sea and sand are not factors normally associated with quality wine production, but once you leave the high-rise hotels and holiday villas of the coast, inland Cyprus is a fascinating ancient wine landscape, discovers Caroline Gilby MW.

Virgin Wines wants to be Interflora of wine gifting

Online wine retailer Virgin Wines is looking to "own" the wine gifts market with its new gifting service which includes options from £20 to £150.

Coravin founder tells DWCC how he turned near disaster into a PR success

To create something genuinely different in any market you need to try and satisfy an "unmet need"  that "makes people's lives better" in that sector, according to Greg Lambrecht, founder and inventor of the Coravin wine preservation system.

The Week That Was: top news, Q&As and opinion on Harpers.co.uk

In case you missed some of the headlines this week on harpers.co.uk, we have done a review of the top online news, financial news for the drinks trade, Q&As, and opinion stories.

Wines of South Africa ramps up Asian focus

Wines of South Africa is stepping up its marketing efforts in Asia with the opening of a dedicated office in Hong Kong.

Public health experts call for calorie labelling for beers, wines and spirits

The drinks industry faces renewed calls for calorie labelling on drinks, following research which shows strong public backing for the measure and a lack of consumer awareness on how calorific drinks can be.

Jancis Robinson leads roll call of wine personalities at DWCC in Montreux

Jancis Robinson MW leads an international line up of leading wine figures that have descended on Montreux, on the bank of Lake Geneva, for this year's Digital Wine Communications Conference.

Glynn Davis: a postcard from Porto

Glynn Davis sends us a postcard from Porto, where he finds out what else is on offer besides the fortified wine. 

Trade reacts to the Bibendum PLB merger

Rival suppliers and potential customers of the new Bibendum PLB group have been unsurprised by the news of the merger, given tough market conditions, with most saying further consolidation in the supply chain is on the cards.

Majestic asks suppliers to 'support' new warehouse with discounts

Majestic has asked some of its suppliers to contribute a 4p per bottle retrospective payment to help fund its new warehouse in Hemel Hempstead, Harpers understands.

Bibendum acquires PLB to create 'UK's most powerful independent' drinks supplier

Bibendum, one of the UK's largest wine and spirits distributors has acquired major rival, PLB, for an undisclosed sum and is merging both businesses, as of today, October 29, into the Bibendum PLB Group, Harpers.co.uk can reveal.

Analysis: The new Bibendum PLB supergroup

Bibendum's acquisition of UK drinks rival PLB and the merger of both businesses has created a supergroup, complete with five divisions, catering to the on and off-trades, independents, specialist beer and spirits and events sectors.