Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Mentzendorff get on their bikes to raise cash for The Benevolent

Published: 19 June, 2019

Members of team Mentzendorff will cycle the four-day ‘Giro di Toscana’ to raise money for The Benevolent on 24 June.

Portman Group slams large producers for lack of support

Published: 17 June, 2019

Sir Martin Narey, chairman of the Portman Group, has said large drinks producers who do not support them should be “ashamed".

Drinkaware bolsters senior team with new duo

Published: 13 June, 2019

Alcohol education charity Drinkaware has bolstered its senior team with two new hires.

Guy Woodward: Why low and no wine has a problem

Published: 11 June, 2019

Guy Woodward

Martini and William Grant & Sons enter burgeoning low/no sector

Published: 06 June, 2019

Martini and William Grant & Sons have entered the burgeoning low/lo alcohol category.

Alcohol sales fall worldwide, but with recovery to follow, predicts the IWSR

Published: 31 May, 2019

Global alcohol consumption fell back by 1.6% in 2018, according to new data from the IWSR, with some 27.6 billion nine-litre cases being consumed.

Holland & Barrett launch marks a ‘first’ for the organic alcohol-free sector

Published: 28 May, 2019

Health food chain Holland & Barrett is taking strides into the alcohol-free sector with a new organic and vegan wine – the first to be available in the UK, according to its producer.

Skinny Prosecco founders launch vegan, no-alcohol fizz

Published: 14 May, 2019

This month will see the launch of the UK’s first organic, vegan, alcohol-free sparkling wine, its producers claim.

Music festivals offer £100m opportunity

Published: 07 May, 2019

Drinks suppliers could reap a £100 million booze bonanza this summer thanks to alcohol loving festival-goers, according to new CGA research on festivals.

Checkout free shopping trial sees alcohol removed from shelves

Published: 30 April, 2019

The need for age verification has led the first UK till-free supermarket to remove wines, beers and spirits from its shelves.

The end of sex, drugs…and alcohol?

Published: 23 April, 2019

The brains behind synthetic alternative Alcosynth say they’re five years from hitting the market and revolutionising the alcohol industry. Is this really the future, asks Jo Gilbert?

SWA doubles support to projects combatting alcohol misuse

Published: 05 April, 2019

The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has announced it will to double its support to projects that work to combat alcohol misuse to £1 million

Wine in the firing line

Published: 21 March, 2019

The modern world changes fast. In the past decade, we have gone from a situation of blithely choking on carbon monoxide from second-hand smoke every time we enter a pub or restaurant to a virtual ghettoisation of cigarettes. Before the ban most people would have thought this inconceivable. But it happened.

Thc could replace abv as consumers look to cannabis for an “intoxicating buzz”

Published: 28 February, 2019

Experts have warned that alcoholic drinks is the FMCG category most likely to be under threat from cannabis, which will be at the heart of a “global paradigm shift” over the next decade.

Google searches for Dry January up 35% on last year as Gen Z knuckles down with no and low

Published: 31 January, 2019

Low and no alcohol serves can no longer be seen as “the poor cousin at the back of the bar” a number of industry experts agreed when faced with the question of what to do about the most teetotal generation in living memory.

Teetotal for a year: why waking up to low and no is the trade's biggest challenge

Published: 30 January, 2019

The driest month of the year is almost over. But as the trend for drinking less but better – or not at all – continues into 2019, many consumers will be planning to moderate well into February and beyond. Changing drinking habits is something we can no longer ignore, says Hugh Jones, former prestige sale manager at Mentzendorff and now head of sales at Lucky Saint, which produces a 0.5% beer. Reporting for Harpers, Jones explains why he has vowed to go teetotal for a year with the aim of exploring what trade needs to do to stay relevant – while also making the most of the opportunities in the ever-evolving drinks industry.