Food & Drink

Lambrini cider rolls out to pubs and bars following success in Tesco and Asda

26-Jun-2012 By Robyn Black

Lambrini girls who “just wanna have fun” will be able to do so in pubs and bars from this week, as the brand rolls out to the on-trade for the first time in its history.

Beer tax fraud inquiry: Government should freeze beer duty

26-Jun-2012 By Gurjit Degun

The Government should freeze beer duty if it is to press ahead with tax stamps on beer to tackle alcohol fraud.

Cider categories introduced to the International Brewing Awards

25-Jun-2012 By Mike Berry

Two new categories for cider are being added to the International Brewing Awards for the 2013 competition.

Social media can be a Twitter pill to swallow

25-Jun-2012 By Pete Brown

Facebook and tweeting are good for pubs, but don’t alienate customers, warns Pete Brown. 

LTC launches recruitment drive in Burton

25-Jun-2012 By Michelle Perrett

The Licensed Trade Charity (LTC) launched a marketing campaign last week in Burton Upon Trent - with the support of the local MP Andrew Griffiths - to recruit volunteers.  

MPs set to debate beer duty escalator

25-Jun-2012 By John Harrington, M&C Report

MPs are to debate proposals to abandon the beer duty escalator in Parliament.

London 2012: Heineken and Wetherspoon's in Olympics push

21-Jun-2012 By Robyn Black

Heineken is hoping to “bring the Olympics to life” in pubs via a tie-in with JD Wetherspoon (JDW) and a campaign to Paint London Green.

Brands Opinion: Where is all the brand activity?

21-Jun-2012 By Robyn Black

It’s a good time to return after maternity holiday, as there is just the merest whiff of optimism in the air. The nation is still basking (should that be dripping?) in the Jubilee weekend afterglow, and the Olympics are approaching at the speed of Usain...

New look for Echo Falls wine

21-Jun-2012 By Robyn Black

Echo Falls is to get a new look as part of a “record-breaking year of investment” in the wine.

Cask Marque demand spreads to Europe and US

21-Jun-2012 By Mike Berry

Demand for the Cask Marque award — which recognises pubs that offer quality cask ale — is catching on in Europe and across the Atlantic.

Carlsberg renames its wholesale wine and spirits division

20-Jun-2012 By Robyn Black

Carlsberg has re-branded its wine and spirit division and added new wines to its offer as it looks to grow its wholesale division.

Punch Taverns pub wins 13,000 pints of beer

20-Jun-2012 By Gurjit Degun

The Bell at Kesgrave, Ipswich, has been crowned the place to celebrate the Summer of Our Lives by Punch Taverns, winning a dray of beer totalling more than 13,000 pints.

Beer Tax Fraud Inquiry: Brewers warn of huge cuts in range of beers

20-Jun-2012 By John Harrington

Pubs would have a massively reduced range of imported beers to stock if Government plans to introduce duty stamps go ahead, the UK arm of global brewer SABMiller warned.

The Big Interview: Henry Chevallier Guild, Aspall's Cider

19-Jun-2012

Henry Chevallier Guild was two days old when he arrived at Aspall Hall, the 15th-century moated house in Debenham, Suffolk occupied by his family since 1702.

Entries open for British Guild of Beer Writers awards

18-Jun-2012

Entries for the annual competition for beer writing, the British Guild of Beer Writers, opened today, with a total prize fund of £8,500.

Beer Tax Fraud Inquiry: Duty stamps plan 'likely to face legal challenge'

15-Jun-2012 By John Harrington

It’s “very likely” that the Government’s plans to implement duty stamps on beer will face a legal challenge, a senior legal expert at Heineken UK has said.

Admiral Vernon Old J Spiced Rum set to launch

15-Jun-2012 By Robyn Black

Disgruntled fans of the old style Sailor Jerry rum, who were left fuming when owner First Drinks changed the recipe in February 2010, are being targeted with a new rum that it is said replicates the original Sailor Jerry taste.

Harveys retains mild interest

15-Jun-2012

A lot of bubbly was consumed during the course of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations but that wouldn’t have been the drink of choice 60 years ago. As commentators endlessly repeated during the long bank holiday, “society has changed out of all recognition...

St Austell Brewery fined over pub asbestos failures

13-Jun-2012 By Gurjit Degun

St Austell Brewery, the Devon-based pub operator and brewery, has been fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £6,295 costs after workmen carrying out a refurbishment at one of its pubs were exposed to deadly asbestos dust.

Heineken to launch Strongbow Pear

13-Jun-2012 By Noli Dinkovski

Heineken is to launch Strongbow Pear in what is claimed to be the most significant product innovation yet for the brand.

PMA launches new cask ale initiative Cask Matters

12-Jun-2012 By Mike Berry

The Publican’s Morning Advertiser (PMA) has joined forces with the Cask Report to launch Cask Matters — a new monthly section in the magazine dedicated to Britain’s national drink.

Beer tax fraud group descends on Dover

12-Jun-2012 By Michelle Perrett

Four members of a tax fraud investigation group have spent a day in Dover meeting frontline officers from the UK’s Border Force, which is responsible for monitoring and intercepting smuggled goods.

British beer drinkers pay highest tax in Europe

11-Jun-2012 By Michelle Perrett

British beer drinkers pay the highest levels of beer tax of all 16 qualifying countries in Euro 2012, statistics provided by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) have revealed.

Beer needs to be celebrated outside of industry awards

11-Jun-2012 By Pete Brown

One thing that frustrates me about beer (and being a beer writer) is that outside our little bubble of interest, we still have a credibility problem with trying to persuade people to take beer seriously.

Heineken's tequila-flavoured lager Desperados in live music pub promotion

08-Jun-2012 By Noli Dinkovski

Tequila-flavoured lager Desperados is backing a series of live music events in pubs as part of a major national sampling campaign.

Molson Coors: Big advertising campaign for Corona Extra

08-Jun-2012 By Noli Dinkovski

Molson Coors is putting sociability at the heart of Corona Extra in its biggest ever ad campaign for the brand.

Flavoured cider: Gaymers launches pear cider variants

08-Jun-2012 By Noli Dinkovski

Gaymers Cider has relaunched with the introduction of two new flavours to the existing apple and pear range.

Elgood's Brewery: Sisters with a survival instinct

06-Jun-2012

It’s always good to find a family brewery where the family is still firmly in charge and not just a name on the letterhead. At Elgood’s in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, you can’t move for family members.

Ramsgate Brewery removes Kray Twins pump clip after Portman Group ruling

01-Jun-2012

A Kent brewery has stopped using an image on one of its pump clips which featured East End gangsters, the Kray Twins, after the Portman Group ruled it breached alcohol responsibility rules.

Jennings: New beer generation hot on authenticity

29-May-2012 By Tony Jennings

For me one of the good things that has occurred in our beer business in the past couple of years is a seemingly exponential rise in the number of people involved in it who are interested in how the beers they sell are brewed — from what and where.

New BarSupermarket.com website launched for official branded merchandise

29-May-2012

Licensed UK establishments can now take charge of their point of sale needs with the launch of BarSupermarket.com, a fantastic new website exclusively for official branded glassware, bar accessories, promotional clothing, outdoor merchandise and an extensive...

Brains' Millennium Stadium concession to be handed to Heineken for Olympic Games

29-May-2012 By Adam Pescod

SA Brains, the Cardiff-based brewer and pub operator, has confirmed that its beer and branding will be removed from the Millennium Stadium for this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games, as part of Heineken’s sponsorship of the events.

Big Interview: Peter Linacre, New Pub Company

28-May-2012 By Phil Mellows

Size isn’t everything any more for Peter Linacre. Since the collapse of Massive he’s been focusing on a more modest venture, as Phil Mellows discovers

Cask Report enters a new era

28-May-2012 By Pete Brown

With cask now taking centre-stage in any new pub worth its salt, what became a bible for the cask-ale sector is evolving, as the PMA takes news of its impact down a different track

Beer Tax Fraud Inquiry: duty stamps on beer bottles will force rebranding

28-May-2012 By Gurjit Degun

Duty stamps on bottled beer will force the rebranding on major lager brands, brewer SAB Miller has claimed.

Britain expected to sell an additional 80m pints over Jubilee weekend

25-May-2012 By Michelle Perrett

Britain is expected to sell between 60m and 80m extra pints of beer, and an extra 7.5m pub meals over the four-day weekend of the Jubilee predicts the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).

Top Tips: Selling food with coffee

25-May-2012

Allowing a customer to walk away holding just a coffee is a wasted opportunity. Matt Moggridge provides some tips on how to tempt them into buying something extra to eat as well

Beer Tax Fraud Inquiry: Majority of beer fraud organised by criminal gangs, says FWD chief

24-May-2012 By Michelle Perrett

The majority of beer duty fraud is operated by organised criminal gangs who are hard to prosecute, MPs heard at the Beer Tax Inquiry.

Beer Tax Fraud Inquiry: BBPA calls for Government action to be "proportionate"

24-May-2012 By Michelle Perrett

British Beer & Pub Association director of brewing Andy Tighe called for Government action over beer duty fraud to be “proportionate”.

Molson Coors launches limited edition summer lager Carling Zest on draught

24-May-2012 By Noli Dinkovski

Molson Coors has made its limited edition summer lager Carling Zest available on draught.

Brewers accused of failing to tackle beer fraud during first session of Beer Tax Fraud Inquiry

24-May-2012 By Michelle Perrett

Brewers were accused of failing to take responsibility for fighting beer fraud during the first meeting of the Beer Tax Fraud Inquiry in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

Government makes another U-turn over beer-flow monitoring equipment

24-May-2012 By Michelle Perrett

The Government has made yet another dramatic U-turn over the use of beer-flow monitoring equipment, confirming finally that it is not covered by the Weights & Measures Act.

Young's reports a transformation year with revenue up 25%

24-May-2012 By Mark Wingett. M&C Report

Young’s, the London-based brewer and pub operator, has hailed the year to 2 April 2012 as a transformational one for the company, 12 months in which it fully integrated the Geronimo Inns business and exited from brewing.

Sixty years of Timothy Taylor's award-winning Landlord

22-May-2012 By Roger Protz

Roger Protz says we should all raise our glasses to 60 glorious years of Timothy Taylor’s award-winning Landlord pale ale.

Heineken UK: New campaign for Tiger beer

22-May-2012 By Matthew Moggridge

Heineken UK is to focus on the fast-paced, Far Eastern energy of cities like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur for the latest outing of its Tiger Beer Hidden Depths campaign, in which consumers are invited to ‘look beyond the obvious’.

Shadow business minister Toby Perkins will ‘make the case’ on beer duty

22-May-2012 By John Harrington

Labour’s shadow business minister Toby Perkins has said he’ll “make the case” to his party for alcohol duty to be reduced, but fell short of explicitly supporting the move.

Business Boosters: Three ideas for driving food and drink sales at your pub

18-May-2012

Pub Chef looks at three ideas for driving food and drink sales at our pub: a chocolate festival, butcher's block, and brunch with afternoon tea.

BrewDog considers brewing beer to 'commemorate' spat with Diageo over BII award

18-May-2012

Scottish brewer and pub operator BrewDog has proposed brewing a beer to “commemorate” its spat with major global drinks firm Diageo, asking its Twitter followers to suggest a name.

Hall and Woodhouse head brewer Toby Heasman awarded brewer of the year

17-May-2012 By Michelle Perrett

Hall and Woodhouse head brewer Toby Heasman was given the top accolade of brewer of the year at the All-Party Parliamentary Annual Beer Awards Dinner last night.

MPs elected to Beer Tax Fraud Inquiry Panel

17-May-2012 By Michelle Perrett

A panel of 11 MPs has been elected to investigate the impact that duty fraud has on the sector.