January can be bleak for the trade, with the mix of diminished consumer spend, attempts to cut back on the booze and the ever-glorious weather conspiring against the will to go out and enjoy.
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As we've mentioned elsewhere in Harpers this month, we could be on the verge of the driest January on record. And no, we're not talking about the weather.
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In retail head offices across the country, buyers will be analysing this year's trading, investigating highs and lows, and providing the traditional Christmas post-mortems.
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Gone are the days when all the consumer had to choose between was a can on the supermarket shelf or cask ale from the pub. This has everything to do with the craft beer movement, which – fuelled by the flexibility and creativity afforded to small brewers, an explosion of flavours in hops from the New World and the proliferation of alternative formats – has taken not just the beer but the entire drinks industry by storm in recent years.
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No one doubts that the future for historic winery Chateau d'Yquem and for sweet Bordeaux's renowned 11 premier cru producers - and even the second crus in Sauternes and Barsac - looks good.
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The independent sector continues to carve its own footprint, increasingly punching above its weight
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2016 has had its highlights and, despite challanges along the way, the restaurant sector is in decent shape
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The ability to cut supply chain costs while at the same time maintaining a high-quality distribution service has become a holy grail for many wine merchants and retailers.
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Champagne and Britain are inextricably linked. As the region's longest-standing, largest export market, hovering steadily around the 33 million bottle mark every year, it is surprising that the sound of popping corks does not drown out all other noise.
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The current on-trade staffing shortage is being exacerbated by a lack of appropriate training. Harpers spoke to Matthew Cocks about Jascots' WineEd initiative designed to help plug the gap
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As the British electorate showed us in June - followed by Americans in November - 2016 has been the year to rip up the rulebook.
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According to Paul Jenkins, purchasing director at D&D hospitality group, recruiting and retaining staff isn't just a perennial problem - it's getting worse.
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The UK referendum decision on European Union membership surprised many, but while the parliamentary and legal bodies work through the most appropriate process to enact legislation, the wine and spirit trade can use the time to plan for change.
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Champagne may be facing a bumpy time in the UK but, as Christmas approaches, all signs are that sparkling wines without the famous French appellation attached to their label are in rude health and many retailers are pinning their hopes on bumper fizz sales this festive season.
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Britain's retailers, faced with the fall in sterling and market turbulence, surely have little to celebrate in Christmas 2016.
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"Change is the only constant," mused the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, and that has certainly never been more apt than in the current drinking and dining scene.
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Beyond the first-growth hoopla and hype Bordeaux has been struggling. The good 2016 vintage coupled with a new CIVC approach to consumer marketing might be the turning point
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New WinePro research from Kingsland goes beyond defining consumers, unearthing their needs and habits on different consuming occasions.
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As the countdown begins to the most wonderful - and lucrative - time of the year, Harpers looks at how retailers can make the most of the opportunities presented by premium spirits.
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When Nathan Lee and Jason Mead were building their bar and restaurant group in Bristol, starting with Prohibition-style bar Hyde & Co in 2010, they received no shortage of advice on locations.
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