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The week that was

Published:  12 October, 2018

In case you missed some of the headlines this week on harpers.co.uk, here’s a review of the top online news, analysis, opinions and features.

Top stories: The leaves are starting to turn and change has similarly been in the air for businesses this week.

Leading the charge is Enotria & Coe, who this week announced it has taken on two new additions to its portfolio from Italy and Down Under.

Elsewhere, we had our finger on the beating pulse of the bar world, with the latest from Bar Convent in Berlin.

The event has become Europe’s seminal bar show in recent years, and this year made some changes to its format to keep up with its increasingly international visitor list.

It also shone a spotlight on the importance of mentoring in the industry to encourage the next generation – and this was echoed by bartenders in our second report from the event.

When it comes to encouraging millennials, Bacardi’s global advocacy director talked up ditching a “vanilla” approach, and instead said operators should take a more political stance with the brands they pour and activities they run.

So it is good news that the number of young people looking to get into the industry is on the rise.

According to hospitality recruitment specialist Adia, in the past four months, students looking for jobs in the hospitality sector increased by 83% compared with the first four months of 2018.


Analysis and Insights:
Financial difficulties were the name of the game this week with focuses on both Argentina and also South Africa.

On his trip to the recent Cape Wine, Harpers’ editor Andrew Catchpole found a country producing better wines than ever before, although the industry remains under severe financial stress.

In Argentina, however, Angela Mount underlined how the tanking Peso could have a silver lining for the country’s premium wine exports.

And we also brought you a report from Think Whisky 2018 – the newest in our growing portfolio of events, celebrating everything from gin to rum, to independent businesses.

Despite being the second biggest spirits category in the UK, big opportunities exist for whisky if it can grow engagement with women and younger adults, panellists concluded.

Find out more about the moves this historic category is making in the 21st century on the link below.


People and Opinion:
Ditch pricing algorithms and learn what consumers are prepared to pay instead, Communicator of the Year Joe Fattorini boldly stated in his new column for Harpers.

Putting up prices might seem counterintuitive, the head of sales at Fields, Morris & Verdin said. But consumers will often go with what feels right.

And while at £34, a wine might feel like an expensive thirty quid bottle, at £39 it feels like a £40 bottle bargain.

And we heard from Tim Atkin MW on what it takes in the industry to be the best. Taking Peter Sisseck as his case study, Atkin asks do winemakers get better with age?

And is there a link with old vines to made perhaps?