Majestic has formed a partnership with on-demand courier specialist Gophr to enhance delivery services during the busy summer sports season. The collaboration will provide Majestic’s retail and on-trade customers with same-day deliveries across the UK.
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The Board of Directors of the Consorzio di Tutela del Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG has elected Franco Adami as its new president. Adami will lead the Italian Consorzio for a three-year term from 2024 to 2026, following his election on 29 May.
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Chilean winery Viña Santa Rita has named Javier Bitar Hirmas its new CEO, effective 1 August. This announcement, made by the chairman of the board, Baltazar Sánchez, marks a significant transition in leadership for the company.
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Weather has overtaken inflation as the primary driver of UK grocery sales growth in May, according to new data from NIQ. Total till sales at UK supermarkets grew by 3.3% for the four weeks ending 18 May 2024. This growth was fueled by shifts between wet and warm weather, which pushed value growth at supermarkets to 5.1%, a two-month high excluding Easter.
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Trivet, the two Michelin-starred neighbourhood restaurant in London’s Bermondsey, has launched Labombe Wine Bar. This new concept sees its dedicated bar open on Monday evenings under a new guise, offering a by-the-glass wine selection curated by sommelier Isa Bal, plus a blackboard menu of bar bites from chef Jonny Lake.
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Yapp Brothers is to leave it’s Wiltshire HQ this month for new premises in Somerset, marking a milestone in the company’s 55-year history,
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The Visitor Levy Bill, passed on Tuesday (28 June) by the Scottish Parliament, concludes a decade-long debate on whether councils should have the authority to introduce a visitor levy or tourist tax. The Bill empowers councils to consider and potentially implement such a levy, although it won't come into effect until 2026 at the earliest.
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The 2024 Top 100 Sud de France tasting event is set to showcase the finest wines from Languedoc, Roussillon and the South-West on 12 June in London. For the first time, attendees will experience a self-pour tasting format, allowing visitors to explore the Top 100 wines at their own pace.
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The crisis in the Australian wine industry has deepened now that buyout negotiations between Australian Vintage and its larger rival Accolades Wines have collapsed. The former has requested a suspension of its shares on the Australian stock exchange as it grapples with a grape glut and mounting debt.
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The Wine & Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) is calling on independent retailers to participate in a brief survey regarding the scheduled end of the temporary wine duty easement next February. This measure, introduced in August 2023 as part of the government's alcohol duty review, allows wines with an alcohol content between 11.5% and 14.5% abv to be taxed at a standardised rate of 12.5% abv. Once the easement ends, wines will be taxed based on their actual alcoholic strength.
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A report released by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has revealed that 70% of beer and wine served in UK pubs and bars is short-measured, resulting in significant financial losses for consumers. The study highlighted that an average beer drinker is losing approximately £88.40 annually, while a wine drinker loses around £114.40 per year due to under-pouring.
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The question of how to drive growth and invest in hospitality was the question at the heart of a recent session organised by the Hospitality Sector Council and its Innovation Working Group (IWG).
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The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), The Drinks Trust and the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) have launched an appeal for funding to support the initial stage of its initiative aimed at fostering equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the UK drinks industry.
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Félix Solís Avantis’s new Chilean facility in the Cachapoal Valley is starting to bear fruit after barrel samples of its 2024 Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay were unveiled at last week's London Wine Fair.
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Despite the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, the UK’s eating-out market reached a turnover of £97.3bn in 2023, surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the first time. This represents a 6% increase compared to 2022. However, Britvic's Soft Drinks Review 2024 highlights a shift in consumer preferences, with fast food outlets benefitting from consumers trading down, while casual dining and pubs face more significant challenges.
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The London Wine Fair 2024, held at Olympia from 20-22 May, experienced a decrease in both visitor and exhibitor numbers, but the focus on visitor quality brought a positive response from exhibitors and attendees alike.
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WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust), the global leader in drinks education, has partnered with US non-profit The Roots Fund to launch a scholarship programme aimed at supporting education and career opportunities in the spirits industry for people from ethnic minority groups.
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a surprise general election on July 4 has stirred significant reactions within the UK drinks trade.
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UK inflation dropped to 2.3% in April, its lowest level in nearly three years. However, the reduction was less significant than anticipated, dampening hopes for an imminent interest rate cut.
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‘Is the UK a wine hub or a has been?’ This was one of the more interesting questions posed at this week’s London Wine Fair (LWF).
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