Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

NZW reports strong UK off-trade performance

Published: 19 January, 2021

New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) has reported a 23% leap in off-trade value sales of New Zealand wine in the UK.

BWS supermarket sales surge 25%

Published: 05 January, 2021

Supermarket sales of beer, wines and spirits (BWS) surged 25% to £4.9m in the 12 weeks to 27 December – an increase of £972m compared to the same period last year, according to Kantar data released today.

Reimagining the high street shop for drinks retailing

Published: 13 November, 2020

A renewed focused on shop-front retail has led to a rash of new openings, from Manchester to Birmingham and Surrey, writes Jo Gilbert.

Christmas to bring scant cheer for trade under tougher restrictions

Published: 14 October, 2020

The UK drinks trade will have little to toast this Christmas trading period if restrictions on socialising become more onerous, with a fall in off-trade sales compounded by a further dramatic down-turn in the on-trade.

Aldi to open 100 new stores as part of £1.3bn investment

Published: 28 September, 2020

Aldi has pledged to invest a record £1.3bn over the next two years with new and upgraded stores, distribution centres and “further innovations” planned across the business.

50 Best Indies 2020

Published: 11 September, 2020

Padstow’s Bin Two has romped home for a second year running with top placing in our 50 Best Indies 2020 list.

50 Best Indies 2020 countdown is on

Published: 07 September, 2020

Join us as the annual Harpers 50 Best Indies awards are announced throughout this week (7 to 11 September), culminating in a live webinar with the top 10 on Friday as the final results are announced.

Pernod Ricard UK appoints wine portfolio director

Published: 01 September, 2020

Pernod Ricard UK (PRUK) has appointed Lucy Bearman to the newly created position of wine portfolio director.

Mark Roberts, Lanchester Wines: Back to Business Q&A

Published: 26 August, 2020

As the trade measures up to extraordinary times and looks ahead beyond summer, leading operators take stock of doing business in the new normal.

Supermarket BWS sales stay strong

Published: 19 August, 2020

Sales of beer, wine and spirits (BWS) through supermarkets increased 20% in the past four weeks, while total grocery sales slowed down.

Brits almost halve alcohol intake during lockdown

Published: 29 July, 2020

Brits consumed 1.3 billion litres of alcohol during the UK’s lockdown period, almost half the 2 billion litres recorded during the same period last year, according to new data from Nielsen Scantrack and CGA.

Friday Read: Multiple price pressures

Published: 03 July, 2020

The following nicely captures the predominant supplier view of UK supermarkets.

Waitrose expands English portfolio in a nod to English Wine Week

Published: 18 June, 2020

Waitrose is celebrating English Wine Week (20- 28 June) by launching five new and exclusive homegrown wines.

Volume uplift in US off-trade offsets on-trade sales drop

Published: 16 June, 2020

US wine volume sales look set to be flat in 2020 with the Covid-19 led surge in off-trade sales balancing out the drop in on-trade sales, according to new Wine Intelligence research.

Raab says ‘review’ to be completed within “coming weeks”

Published: 15 June, 2020

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has said the government expects the next Covid-19 review, including if the 2 metre social distancing rule will be reduced, to be completed “within the coming weeks”.

Sunak confirms “urgent comprehensive review” of 2 metre rule

Published: 15 June, 2020

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed PM Boris Johnson has ordered a “comprehensive review” on the 2 metre social distancing rule.

Alcohol sales knocked by lockdown

Published: 08 June, 2020

Despite the marked shift from on-trade to home drinking, lockdown could still leave a sobering £7bn hole in total UK alcohol sales, as Andrew Catchpole reports.

Fears of Brits binge drinking through lockdown unfounded, says Portman Group

Published: 05 June, 2020

The majority of Brits are drinking the same or less compared to before lockdown, with a large majority remaining within the UK chief medical officers’ (CMO) low risk guidelines (14 units per week), according to new research released today by the Portman Group.