Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Jerry Lockspeiser: Can we plan for the unknown?

Published: 23 November, 2020

“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.” Charles Bukowski

Medium and smaller brands take lead over private label

Published: 21 October, 2020

Private label sales are down across almost all European countries, with mid-sized brands and smaller companies performing best.

Profile: John Timothy, The Portman Group

Published: 14 October, 2020

Health rose to the top of the agenda at the beginning of 2020 in a way we’ve never seen before. Jo Gilbert speaks to the face of alcohol responsibility in the UK about meeting this challenge

On-trade groups less pessimistic but overall market confidence plunges

Published: 30 September, 2020

The number of on-trade business leaders feeling confident about the general market has dipped to just 9% — half the level in June (16%), and a fraction of the four-year high of 60% at the start of this year, according to the latest Business Confidence Survey from CGA and Fourth.

FDF: Untapped export potential key to industry recovery

Published: 03 September, 2020

Despite business confidence falling to record lows across the food and drink industry in the second quarter of 2020, untapped overseas export markets remain a “golden opportunity” for recovery and growth for businesses, according to a new report.

Soapbox: Doug Wregg talks natural beauty

Published: 19 May, 2020

Doug Wregg considers prejudice, provenance and ideology in a spoofy wine world.

Still wine wins out as UK drinking occasions rise to new heights

Published: 14 May, 2020

The UK’s 28 million wine consumers have found new and more occasions to enjoy their favourite drink, according to new research from Wine Intelligence.

UK consumers are drinking less despite surging sales, new survey shows

Published: 04 May, 2020

Consumers are shunning alcoholic drinks during the Covid-19 crisis, the latest BrandTrack survey from CGA has found.

Living with lockdown – Bibendum

Published: 28 April, 2020

Michael Saunders, Bibendum CEO and chairman of The Drinks Trust and WSTA, dives deep into the challenges thrown up by the current crisis. Andrew Catchpole reports

Delivering a new approach

Published: 17 April, 2020

As lockdown happened, Lisa Riley looked at how the on-trade adapted to create opportunities in an alien situation.

FDF job app deal to help ‘hidden heroes’ in food-and-drink sector

Published: 02 April, 2020

The Food and Drink Federation has announced a new partnership with recruitment app Syft in response to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Best booze flicks for lockdown weekend

Published: 27 March, 2020

One week into lockdown, and you’ve exhausted all of Netflix ‘recommended for you’ offerings and are missing the world of wine. So why not kill two birds with one stone and stream a film about booze?

Premiumisation arrives in Portugal

Published: 04 March, 2020

Portugal’s wine drinkers have upped their spending significantly over the last two years, according to a new report from Wine Intelligence.

Rum sales leap 7% in the on-trade

Published: 03 March, 2020

Sales of rum in the UK on-trade rose 7% year-on-year in 2019, according to the latest data from food-and-drink research analysts CGA.

Staffing crisis: Low skilled judgement

Published: 02 March, 2020

The government’s damaging immigration policy will further exacerbate the staffing crisis in an already beleagured on-trade. Chris Losh takes aim...

Dry January a hit with one-in-four UK drinkers

Published: 03 February, 2020

More than a quarter of UK drinkers (27%) cut their alcohol consumption entirely or in part during January, new research has revealed.

Pub decline halted as food drives growth

Published: 16 January, 2020

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has released figures showing that the long decline in the number of pubs in the UK has stopped, with a “small rise” in 2019 buoying up the sector for the first time in decades.

Spirits drive UK exports to China

Published: 10 December, 2019

Sales of UK spirits to China are up 35.5% year-on-year in the first half of 2019, a new report from the Food and Drink Federation has revealed.

Drinks sales rescue on-trade from weak November

Published: 09 December, 2019

Drinks sales in Britain’s pubs helped the on-trade stay in growth in November, latest monthly food-and-drink data from the Coffer Peach Tracker has shown.