Food & Drink

Magners pumps millions into relaunch and rebrand

Cider

Magners pumps millions into relaunch

By Nicholas Robinson

Irish cider makers Magners is pumping millions of pounds into a new multimedia advertising campaign to launch its new packaging and a rip-top cap.

London Wine Fair: 3-5 May

Wine

What’s on at the London Wine Fair?

By Nicholas Robinson

Wine will flow in the capital today (3 May) as the London Wine Fair opens its doors to the trade, but what should operators look out for at the largest trade drinks show in the UK? Nicholas Robinson explores ahead of the event.

White Lady cocktail: Delicate, fluffy and lemony

Cocktail masterclass

How to make the perfect White Lady

By Nicholas Robinson

Gin is increasingly in demand from customers, who are seeking new ways to drink it. Nicholas Robinson caught up with City of London Distillery operations manager Luke Shackleton to find out how to make the White Lady.

Do you know how to serve the perfect Hendrick's G&T?

Spirits

Hendrick’s hits the road with serving lessons

By Nicholas Robinson

Hendrick’s is hitting the road and visiting 100 mainstream bars nationwide starting today (29 May), to show staff how to serve the cucumber- and rose-infused gin – with cucumber slices.

What room is there for the growth of fruit lager in the UK?

Beer

Top beer innovations of 2016 so far

By Nicholas Robinson

From vagina-infused beer to ale claiming to taste like joy, the trade appears to have seen it all so far this year when it comes to innovation. While we’ve had our fair share of novel launches, there have also been many legitimate new products brought...

Who's next on AB InBev's list?

AB InBev snaps up another craft brewer

By Nicholas Robinson

AB InBev has snapped up an Italian craft beer brand days after agreeing to rid itself of a mainstream premium Italian lager in a deal with Asahi last week.

Is your bar cool for the summer?

Summertime drinks

Cool drinks for the summer

By Jo Bruce

With a change in the weather on the horizon, Jo Bruce looks at what drinks are forecast to heat up your sales this summer

Honey beer maker Hiver says operators must help craft brewers

Beer

Small craft brewers ‘priced out’ of mainstream pubs

By Nicholas Robinson

Small craft brewers are being priced out of a beer market that’s made of pints and halves, driven by demand for low price points from operators, the founder of honey beer firm Hiver has claimed.

Fourth round Equity for Punks

BrewDog falls £6m short of crowdfunding target

By Emily Sutherland

Self-styled punk brewer BrewDog has raised £19 million through the latest round of its crowdfunding scheme Equity for Punks, falling short of its £25m target.

Back bars: Harnessing your shop window on the world

Drinks

Back bars: Harnessing your shop window on the world

By Michelle Perrett

Back bars should be working for you to push the drinks you want to sell at the prices that will give you the margins you need to achieve. Michelle Perrett gets the lowdown on how to make the most of every pub’s showcase selection.

Asahi buys AB InBev brands

Beer

Meantime, Peroni and Grolsch sold to Asahi

By Nicholas Robinson

Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime have been sold by AB InBev to Japanese beer giant Asahi less than a year after they were acquired by SABMiller.

Hope House 13 is for premium lager drinkers

Beer

Diageo pumps big bucks into Hop House 13 marketing campaign

By Nicholas Robinson

Diageo will pump a seven-figure sum into a major television advertising campaign to promote its Hop House 13 brand and boost sales of the beer in the on-trade, which is brewed using Guinness yeast, Irish barley and Australian and US hops.

How Tap Takeovers are disrupting the UK beer scene

Craft beer

How Tap Takeovers are disrupting the UK beer scene

By Pete Brown

The idea of taking the beer festival to a new level, to involve whole cities, is an idea that could easily be embraced by freehouses and small groups across the country, argues Pete Brown.

All Coke taste with no sugar

Soft Drinks

Coca-Cola drops Coke Zero brand for Coca-Cola Zero Sugar

By Nicholas Robinson

Coca-Cola Great Britain has replaced its Coke Zero brand of sugar-free cola with Coca-Cola Zero Sugar in a bid to get more consumers to choose sugar-free soft drinks, a move that will be backed by a £10m marketing campaign.

Why is wine the alcohol industry's forgotten sibling?

Why is wine the alcohol industry's forgotten sibling?

By Dan Townsend

While the rest of the UK was reverberating to the news of Chancellor George Osbourne’s decision to impose a levy on sugary soft drinks in last month’s Budget, the wine industry was again getting used to another year of being the alcohol industry’s forgotten...

A good idea?: Crown Cellars new Bad Eye Deer

Wine

New wines to ‘rival craft beer’, says Crown Cellars

By Nicholas Robinson

Carlsberg-owned Crown Cellars – the brewer's UK wine and spirits division – has launched a range of on-trade exclusive wines aimed at attracting younger, quirkier customers and to compete with craft ale.

25 draught lines at BrewDog's new Norwich site

New opening

BrewDog offers 365 craft beers at new Norwich pub

By Nicholas Robinson

BrewDog's new pub in Norwich will stock over 365 different craft beers – one for every day of the year – the Scottish craft beer giant recently announced after revealing plans to increase pubs and capacity in its annual results earlier.

Meantime's first beers from the small-batch brewery

Beer

Meantime launches first new small-batch beers series

By Nicholas Robinson

SABMiller-owned Meantime Brewing Company is set to reveal the first small-batch beers from its new pilot brewery and will develop its future ranges based on how quickly the new brews sell out.

Beer Quality Report from Vianet and Cask Marque

Beer

Beer Quality Report: Main points for licensees

By Michelle Perrett

Pubs are missing out on more than £300m worth of profit because of quality issues, the Beer Quality Report from Vianet and Cask Marque revealed last month. Here are some key facts highlighted in the report relevant to licensees:

J2O Flamingo Fling drink

Soft drinks

J2O’s new limited edition Flamingo Fling

By Nicholas Robinson

Britvic-owned adult soft drink brand J2O is introducing a limited edition Flamingo Fling variant of its drinks range after showcasing it at the pub trade Oscars the Publican Awards last month.

Will you put risotto on your pub menu?

Risotto report

10 things you need to know about risotto in pubs

By Nicholas Robinson

There are few dishes that offer operators high GP, the opportunity to create gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan variants while also being tasty, but the risotto appears to tick all of those boxes. Here are 10 things about risotto you should consider when...

Pease: Boost presence in the UK on-trade

Craft beer

Craft beer must gain better access to pubs to see US-style success

By Nicholas Robinson

Craft brewers must work harder to make craft beer more accessible to pub customers if the segment is to experience success akin to that of the States’, US Brewers’ Association president and chief executive Bob Pease has urged.

Signal Lager teams up with Pitt Cue

Beer & Food

Signal Lager teams up with Pitt Cue

By James Evison

London-based brewery Signal Lager has partnered with grill and smoke restaurant and bar Pitt Cue in their new City location, it has been announced.

More than a pint glass: Even beer glassware can be exciting

Glassware

Serving in the perfect glass – what’s new?

By Nicholas Robinson

You may have the best selection of drinks in your area, but if your glassware has seen better days and your staff aren’t trained to serve them in the best possible manner, then the chances are customers will look elsewhere. Fiona McLelland reports

Wylam Brewery announces opening of Newcastle site

Breweries

Wylam Brewery announces opening of Newcastle site

By James Evison

Newcastle-based Wylam Brewery has announced the opening dates of its new brewery, brewery tap and events space at the Palace of Arts in the city's Exhibition Park.

L-R Rupert Fraser, Nick Dolan, James Hughes, Rupert Farquharson (MD Woodforde's) Dennis Nudd and Mike Betts.

Breweries

Woodforde's taken over by private consortium

By James Evison

Award-winning Norfolk brewery Woodforde's has been purchased by a private consortium of investors, including former Diageo man, James Hughes.

Barcelona beer Moritz is one of the first international beers on Interbev Brands' list

Distribution

New global drinks distributor launched for UK on-trade

By Nicholas Robinson

International drinks distributor and retailer Interbev Limited has launched a new UK arm of its business – Interbev Brands – aimed at providing the on-trade with exclusive access to overseas brands.

BrewDog AGM

Beer

BrewDog rules out 'industrial beer' takeover at its AGM

By Emily Sutherland

Self-styled ‘punk’ craft brewer BrewDog says it has nailed its colours to the mast by amending its articles of association to rule out a takeover by any ‘monolithic purveyor of bland industrial beer.’

New cider drinks in the UK

Cider

Seven innovations in cider

By Nicholas Robinson

Cider makers are set to launch new products during the coming weeks in a bid to make a successful play of the, hopefully, warm and dry weather this summer. In the meantime, we look back on seven of the top cider trends that snatched our attention over...

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