Soft & Hot Drinks

Britvic to pass on cost of sugar levy to customers

24-Mar-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Soft drinks giant Britvic, the manufacturer of products including Pepsi, will pass the cost of the sugar levy on to its customers, GB managing director Paul Graham has confirmed.

Coffee shops to become ‘new local’ outnumbering pubs by 2030

24-Mar-2017 By Georgina Townshend

Coffee shops are set to outnumber pubs by 2030 becoming “the new local”, according to a new report.

Category update

Soft drinks are on the up

23-Mar-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

The soft drinks category has seen a rise in volume and value according to statistics from CGA Strategy.

Vimto poised to make big push into pubs

22-Mar-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Soft-drinks maker and distributor Nichols is set to make a bigger push of its brands, including Vimto and Feel Good, into the pub trade.

JD Wetherspoon to slash 7.5% off food and drink at 900+ pubs

16-Mar-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

JD Wetherspoon (JDW) chairman Tim Martin will hack 7.5% off all food and drink prices for one day across his 900+ pub estate later this year to demonstrate the effect a VAT cut could have on the hospitality industry.

A timeline: how BrewDog became what it is today

13-Mar-2017 By Nikkie Thatcher

From its conception with two employees and a dog in 2007 to its global success of today, The Morning Advertiser sets out the history of BrewDog – warts and all.

Craft soda maker lands big Greene King deal

10-Mar-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Fledgling independent craft soda maker Dalston’s has landed a contract to supply 150 Greene King pubs in London, a sign the segment is primed to “blow up”.

Soft drinks: little mix can pay off big

07-Mar-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

The rise in popularity of soft drinks isn’t just down to thirsty designated drivers or those on a health kick. It is the flavour they provide in cocktails and mixed drinks that is helping the category push on.

How will Coke stay relevant in a craft world?

05-Mar-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

A rise in the number of ‘craft’ soft drinks products on the market – an already roaring trend in beer, cider and spirits – won’t pose an immediate threat to Coca-Cola and is likely to lead to more innovation in the sector.

5 trends to boost soft drinks sales

03-Mar-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

There are five key trends pubs should consider to boost their soft drinks sales and take advantage of the rising number of teetotal consumers in the UK, according to a leading expert.

Franklin & Sons’ new cans

01-Mar-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Soft drinks maker Franklin & Sons has extended its mixers range with new cans in response to increased consumer demand for spirits.

Mounting costs pose real threat to on-trade growth

23-Feb-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Increasing food and drink prices, as well as business rates revaluations, pose immediate threats to on-trade growth this year, new research shows.

JDW will be first pub chain to show drinks calories

19-Feb-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Calorie information for all pub giant JD Wetherspoon’s (JDW) drinks will be shown on its menu and website for the first time from next month.

Gap in the market for no-booze pub, claims pop-up bar owner

27-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Alcohol-free pop-up bar owner Jamie Walker has said there is a gap in the market for a booze-free pub.

Coke Zero reveals £4.5m ad campaign

16-Jan-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Coca-Cola Zero Sugar will be at the centre of a multimillion-pound advertising campaign to emphasise its low-sugar, but Coca-Cola Classic taste, credentials.

Dry January

More than half of consumers want more support from pubs for Dry January

12-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

More than 50% of consumers have said pubs and bars should promote non-alcohol drinks to help support non-drinkers through Dry January, according to reports.

Health

Men push women off #DryJanuary wagon

04-Jan-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Men are more likely to push their female partners off the #DryJanuary wagon, goad them into breaking healthy drinking plans and consume more alcohol than the other way round.

Drinks predictions

What 2017 has in store for the drinks category

03-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Last year was a mixed bag for the pub trade, from the shockwaves following the ‘Leave’ vote of the EU referendum, to the heavily delayed pubs code and the anguish at the appointment of the US president-elect Donald Trump.

Drink-driving

Pubs tackle drink-driving with free soft drinks and bus rides

19-Dec-2016 By Michelle Perrett

Pubs are backing the safer drinking message and helping to crack down on drink-driving during the festive period.

The Drinks List: Top 100 Brands

07-Dec-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

Drinking habits are changing as consumers are faced with more choice than ever, but in The Morning Advertiser's Drinks List: Top 100 Brands, there is a positive story showing a healthy mix of the long-established mainstream brands sitting alongside...

Soft Drinks Tax

Government reveals potential cost of controversial sugar tax

06-Dec-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

The Government has revealed the extent of costs pubs could be forced to pass on to their customers created by the upcoming sugar tax.

Designated Driver

Go soft or go home

06-Dec-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

Designated drivers amongst a group of Christmas revellers can boost the dwell time of the whole party as well as their spend, here we explore how to give the drivers just as good a time as the drinkers.

Designated Driver

How Scotland’s drink-drive law has changed pubs

06-Dec-2016 By Phil Mellows

Scotland’s lower drink drive limits have had a profound effect on the pub trade, leaving a significant amount of sites with a decline in trade. Has this led to a crisis or opened up opportunities for change? Phil Mellows reports

Designated Driver

Inside the New Queen Inn

06-Dec-2016 By Liam Coleman

Since taking on Dorset pub the New Queen Inn in early 2016, licensee Will Everingham and his wife, Lorraine, have put their own stamp on the site by developing both its interior and its soft-drink offer

Designated Driver

Inside Rab Ha’s

06-Dec-2016 By Liam Coleman

Rab Ha’s is named after a 19th-century lover of great food and drink. Manager Karen Pringle talks about how the site now aims to deliver great food and drink for the 21st century

Designated Driver

Inside Thorley Taverns

06-Dec-2016 By Liam Coleman

Christmas may be a time for groups of revellers to let their hair down and party like there’s no tomorrow, but it also a time for licensees and pub operators to face up to their responsibilities and reward the designated drivers in those parties with...

Designated Driver

Food and soft drink pairing

06-Dec-2016 By Andrew Don

No one bats an eyelid when wines are paired with specific dishes, and it should be no different with soft drinks. Andrew Don reports

Designated Driver

The rise of alcohol-free beer

06-Dec-2016 By Nikkie Sutton and Jane Peyton

They may have endured snide remarks and sidelong glances in the past, but low and no-ABV beers are enjoying a renaissance on the back of the current trend towards healthier living Nikkie Sutton and Jane Peyton report

Designated Driver

Soft swaps for alcoholic drinks

06-Dec-2016 By Sara Hussein and Jane Peyton

This month, the on-trade will witness the highest sales of alcohol compared with the rest of the year. Can soft drinks equal the likes of beer, spirits and Champagne, or are they likely to wane during the festive cheer? Sara Hussein and Jane Peyton report

Designated Driver

Coke boss talks sugar levy and new products

06-Dec-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

From the long-running Designated Driver campaign to the sugar levy proposal, Rob Harris has plenty on his plate as the ‘new boy’ at Coca-Cola European Partners

Designated Driver

Embrace the soft drink opportunities afforded by Christmas

06-Dec-2016 By Guest Editor, CCEP's Paul Grace

Well it’s been quite a year, with Leicester City winning the Premier League, Trump’s election, the Referendum and the biggest upset of all, Danny Baker being the first out of the jungle.

Designated driver

Revisiting ‘near beer’ category

06-Dec-2016 By Pete Brown

Are brewers finally managing to create no and low-alcohol beers that are genuinely palatable, rather than the curate’s egg we have endured for so many years before?

Designated Driver

Death by drink driving: changing a nation

06-Dec-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

The festivities around Christmas are always tempered by warnings about the dangers of drinking and driving, and the mayhem it can cause to the lives of victims and perpetrators alike. But there is an underlying message of hope behind the grim stats –...

The Drinks List: Top 100 Brands

Soft drinks rank high in Top 100 Drinks Brands

29-Nov-2016 By Sara Hussein

Eleven soft drinks brands have reached the list of the top 100 beverages operators should stock in their pub.

Drinks trends

Drinks Trends: what was big in 2016 and what is to come

29-Nov-2016 By Nikkie Sutton

We all know that gin and craft beer are the big movers and shakers in drinks trends right now. But what else is making the ground move for licensees, and what’s around the corner?

In association with CCEP

How important are soft drinks to pubs?

23-Nov-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

A quarter of sales come from soft drinks in many pubs, The Morning Advertiser (MA) has learned during a Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) Pub & Bar Tour. Here, we take a look at the pubs and bars making a mint from softs.