Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Design inspiration: What can BWS categories learn from each other?

Published: 30 December, 2024

Jo Gilbert tallies up the scores on BWS’ shelf appeal and explores what each category could learn from the other.

Design & Packaging: All change on alt

Published: 16 August, 2024

With eco-concerns and economic pressures pointing the way to alternative packaging, we look at which formats are making the most headway. Jo Gilbert reports.

‘Better for me’ drinks and ‘borderless wine’ among top innovative trends for 2023

Published: 23 January, 2023

Harpers caught up with some of the leading experts in the trade to share their top predictions for 2023.

January online retail growth lowest ever as BWS sales fall

Published: 15 February, 2022

January saw the lowest rate of online retail growth ever at a slump of -24.4%, according to the IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Index, which tracks the online sales performance for over 200 retailers. At category level, beer, wine and spirits fell even further, reaching an average of -26.6%.

Ecommerce to remain key driver as US online alcohol sales hit $6.1 billion

Published: 04 February, 2022

Ecommerce is becoming a major force in global retail, with online sales of BWS achieving a total value of $6.1 billion in the US market last year.

Sales of BWS resurgent in hospitality sector after relaxation of restrictions

Published: 04 February, 2022

The easing of Covid-19 restrictions is having a positive impact on drink sales across the on-trade, according to the latest CGA Drinks Recovery Tracker.

Waitrose expands bulk buying team

Published: 19 January, 2022

The UK's leading supermarket retailer of premium wines has appointed Barry Dick MW to its BWS bulk buying team.

BWS retail sales decline in December 2021

Published: 05 January, 2022

Overall retail sales of beers, wines and spirits fell in the month of December, when benchmarked against Christmas 2020, though spending remained higher than it was pre-pandemic.

BWS online sales flatline in the run up to Christmas

Published: 13 December, 2021

The BWS category suffered one of its poorest performances on record in November, plummeting -21.4% versus the same month in 2020, as consumers rushed out of their houses to socialise and shop ahead of the fear of potential new December 2021 lockdowns.

Long read: Chasing formats isn't enough for the Instagram generation

Published: 15 November, 2021

In the past decade, regular wine consumption among 18-34 year olds has fallen by 10% (Wine Intelligence), which could indicate trouble for the sector in the future. Alex Green, co-founded wine distributor Beyond Wines after working with business partner Matt Johnson at Copestick Murray where they worked on i heart and Freixenet. Here, he explores why wine brands are failing to engage the younger demographic and where they stand to make the biggest wins.

Christmas 2021: An optimistic appraisal

Published: 27 October, 2021

The British tabloids have spoken: Christmas 2021 is unlikely to yield much festive cheer. Unfortunately, this isn’t simply press hyperbole – the UK’s food industry is under enormous pressure, while retail supply chains continue to be stymied by a lack of HGV drivers.

Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released a set of data in September which confirmed that the on-trade staffing crisis has not abated. “Sourcing staff has been one of our biggest challenges since we reopened,” says Avinash Shashidhara, head chef at Pali Hill restaurant in London.

Online retail BWS sales continue to buck downward trend

Published: 18 October, 2021

Online retail sales of beers, wine and spirits (BWS) remain strong, increasing by 18.6% in September 2021, bucking the downward trend of overall retail sales, according to latest IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Index, which tracks the online sales performance of over 200 retailers.

BWS sales continue to fall in grocery sector

Published: 12 October, 2021

Grocery alcohol sales fell by 6% for the 12 weeks to 3 October due to the impact of the reopening of the on-trade, the latest data from Kantar has revealed.

‘Return to normality’ impacts sales of BWS in grocery sector

Published: 14 September, 2021

The latest data released by Kantar indicates that UK drinkers are consuming less alcohol at home, with total grocery sales of BWS falling significantly over the past three months.

Online BWS sales buck downward trend

Published: 08 September, 2021

New data has revealed that turnover from UK online retail slumped in the month of August, with three notable exceptions.

BWS grocery sales decline 6%

Published: 24 August, 2021

Beer, wine and spirits (BWS) sales through supermarkets continued to slide in the four weeks ending 14 August 2021, down 6% compared with the same period last year, according to Total Till data from NielsenIQ released today.

Online BWS sales shoot up again

Published: 10 August, 2021

Online beer, wine and spirits (BWS) sales shot up once again, posting 29.9% year-on-year growth in July compared to the previous month, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Index released today.

Overall BWS supermarket sales continue to slide

Published: 27 July, 2021

Beer, wine and spirits (BWS) sales through supermarkets continued to slide in the last four weeks to 17 July, down 6% compared with the same period last year, according to Total Till data from NielsenIQ released today.

Supermarkets record drop in BWS sales

Published: 20 July, 2021

Take-home sales of alcohol over the four weeks to 11 July were down by 3% compared with the previous month, according to the latest figures from Kantar.