Drinks producers and retailers 'get personal' for Valentine's Day

Wine and spirits retailers and producers are looking to cash in on love this Valentine's Day with a host of personalised and quirky products alongside the more straightforward deals.  

Waitrose bucks grocery trend for store closures with 14 new openings for 2015

Waitrose is bucking the trend of store closures and job losses in the grocery sector by opening 14 new outlets in 2015, with more in the pipeline for 2016.

Tesco is worst retailer to work with say wine and spirits suppliers in Harpers poll

Tesco has been named and shamed as the worst retailer to work with in a survey of over 200 wine and spirits suppliers carried out by Harpers.co.uk. 

Major wine retailers boast mixed fortunes over Christmas

Majestic Wine saw sales creep up 1.1% over a "difficult Christmas" while Waitrose celebrated a bumper 15.4% increase in BWS sales over the same period last year.

Prosecco sales rocket while still wine lags

Off-trade alcohol sales have risen 2.4% to £14 billion, with volumes up 0.8% - and Italian sparkler Prosecco has seen the most stunning increase of all, with values up 55% throughout 2014.

Prosecco dominates festive fizz sales at major retailers

Sales of Prosecco are fizzing across the major retailers in the run-up to Christmas, with Tesco predicting one in three bottles of sparkling wine sold this year will be the Italian favourite.

UK grocery market declines for first time in 20 years, says Kantar WorldPanel

The ongoing price wars in the British grocery market have led sales to decline by 0.2% - the first decrease since market research firm Kantar World Panel began keeping records. 

Lidl best value supermarket for wine, says new app

Lidl is the UK's best supermarket for wine when it comes to value - according to an 18-month study tasting over 4,000 wines carried out by the Wotwine app.

The Week That Was: top news, Q&As and opinion on Harpers.co.uk

In case you missed some of the headlines this week on harpers.co.uk, we have done a review of the top online news, financial news for the drinks trade, Q&As, and opinion stories.

Aperol celebrates success as sales rocket 800% at Waitrose

Italian aperitif brand Aperol is gaining a strong foothold in the UK market, as sales of the drink shot up 800% at Waitrose in the last year.

Austria claims new sparkling wine standards rival Champagne

Austria has introduced new quality standards for its sparkling wines, which it claims puts it on a par with Champagne and Franciacorta.

Waitrose extends Wincanton's wine storage and distribution contract

Wincanton has secured a contract extension with Waitrose for its wine and spirits storage and distribution - taking the partnership to over 20 years.

Waitrose predicts healthy future for South American and lighter style wines and spirits

South American wines and more left field grape varieties like an Austrian Grüner Veltliner or a Spanish Albarino are going to become far more trendy in the months ahead, according to the new Waitrose Food and Drink Report 2014.

Tesco's woes continue with further drop in sales as Waitrose hits record market share

Tesco continues to lose market share to its grocery rivals at both ends of the retail spectrum, according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel which reveals that Waitrose achieved its record performance for the last 12 weeks of trading.

Waitrose to make beers, wines and spirits 'destination' departments

Waitrose is making its drinks department more of a destination by upping the ante on its in-store dining plans - with plans to ramp up grazing options by adding steak bars and by serving fresh beer.

Morrisons' and Waitrose's profits slide as Ocado sales jump

Morrisons and Waitrose are the most recent losers of the fierce supermarket price wars that have erupted across the UK in the last year. WM Morrison reported just over a 30% decline in half-yearly profits on Thursday, while Waitrose which had remained relatively unscathed by the competition, reported a 9.4% drop in profits for its half yearly results.

Bloom gin launches upmarket rose lemonade RTD

Bloom gin is expanding its range of upmarket ready-to-serve drinks with its gin and rose lemonade - presented in an old-fashioned glass bottle.

Aldi on verge of overtaking Waitrose as sales jump a further 32%

IWC 2014: Supermarket own brand wines take 8 of 13 Great Value Trophies

Supermarket own brand wines have taken home eight out of 13 trophies for great value wines at the International Wine Challenge 2014.

Waitrose to grow online wine share with new website

Waitrose plans to grow its online wine share with the launch of a specialist site Waitrose Cellar.