Top 3 drinks trends from Love Drinks

Loveday, who was awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s birthday honours last month for her services to industry, also urged more women to champion the drinks industry.

In this exclusive video interview, Loveday told the Publican’s Morning Advertiser​: “It was an absolute privilege to be honoured in the Queen’s birthday honours. It came as a surprise and we had to check to make sure that it wasn’t a hoax.”

High-impact work​

She added: “Reading into why people get nominated, it’s about doing really high-impact work in a particular industry and I guess building the business from nothing to £6m, which is where we are now, could be the reason it was bestowed on me.”

The drinks boss, who claims she’s one of few women owner-operators of a UK drinks distribution business, said it would be refreshing to see more women in senior positions in the drinks trade.

Beer and spirits were male-dominated, which could be to the detriment of the trade and didn’t need to be the case, she added.

“It’s definitely male orientated in spirits,” Loveday said. “People don’t understand how much they can achieve until they give it a go and women can bring a different perspective to a business.”

Likely trends​

Watch this video to hear Loveday talk about the drinks trends she believes pubs should look to in the months ahead.

She said: “Something that we’ve been noticing is the premiumisation of soft drinks. There’s so much more choice now, there’s a plethora of wonderful tonics to play around with.

“People also understand bitters a bit more and one drop in a drink balances it out and adds more complexity. Pub operators are now using them in simple cocktails.”