Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Origin Wine partners with Clem Yates MW

Published: 23 March, 2021

Origin Wine has announced a new partnership with winemaking consultant Clem Yates MW as part of its continued expansion programme.

Covid propels delivered drinks market into the mainstream

Published: 16 February, 2021

Lockdown is giving the on-trade and suppliers a chance to claim share of the delivered drinks market from supermarkets, according to CGA’s latest consumer research.

'Significant growth' for organic wine

Published: 10 February, 2021

Supermarket sales of organic beer, wines and spirits (BWS) soared in the last year, growing ahead of overall organic supermarket sales.

BWS supermarket sales rise 15%

Published: 10 November, 2020

Supermarket sales of beer, wines and spirits (BWS) rose 15% in the four weeks to 31 October as the category remained one of the fastest growing ahead of packaged grocery (11%) but behind frozen (16%).

Aldi to open 100 new stores as part of £1.3bn investment

Published: 28 September, 2020

Aldi has pledged to invest a record £1.3bn over the next two years with new and upgraded stores, distribution centres and “further innovations” planned across the business.

WinesDirect Awards 2020

Published: 16 September, 2020

Harpers teamed up with WinesDirect for its third annual WinesDirect Awards. Voted for purely by consumers, the awards celebrate supermarkets, wine merchants  and brands in the beers, wines and spirits industry.

Supermarket BWS sales stay strong

Published: 19 August, 2020

Sales of beer, wine and spirits (BWS) through supermarkets increased 20% in the past four weeks, while total grocery sales slowed down.

Friday read: Retail sales boom belies range stagnation

Published: 17 July, 2020

With supermarket wine sales soaring, buying strategies have altered dramatically, as Angela Mount reports.

Spike in online searches for English wine

Published: 10 June, 2020

Online searches for English wine boomed as the UK headed into lockdown, according to new research.

"Impressive" online drinks uplift here to stay

Published: 08 June, 2020

The influx of new online shoppers looks set to be sustainable, with alcoholic drinks to the fore of this growth in ecommerce.

Off-trade alcohol sales surge 29% over the Easter weekend

Published: 20 April, 2020

Off-trade sales of alcohol surged 29% over the bank holiday weekend although overall Brits spent £160m less on Easter than in 2019.

Stockpiling and on-trade closure send off-trade BWS sales through the roof

Published: 31 March, 2020

Off-trade sales of beer, wine and spirits (BWS) surged 67% in the week to 21 March - the week the government announced the closure of the on-trade.

Government clarifies ‘lockdown’ on and off-trade measures

Published: 24 March, 2020

The government has clarified the measures required to be taken by both the on and off-trade following the announcement last night of a three-week nationwide UK ‘lockdown’.

Selling Italy in the off-trade

Published: 09 December, 2019

Justin Keay digs deep into Italy in the off-trade, taking his microscope to the supermarkets’ Italian ranges and discovering what indie customers are demanding from their local merchants.

My perfect customer: Chris Laidler, Covino

Published: 16 October, 2019

Chester's Covino is a stylish independent wine shop, wine bar and small-plate restaurant boasting over 100 artisan wines. Owner and manager Chris Laidler shares his secrets to attracting new customers and keeping his existing crowd happy.

‘Moonsoon’ weather costs supermarkets £120m in missed sales

Published: 25 June, 2019

UK supermarkets lost out on more than £120m in missed sales in the past four weeks as growth in the grocery sector continued to slow.

CMA blocks Sainsbury’s and Asda merger

Published: 25 April, 2019

The proposed merger between Sainsbury’s and Asda has been blocked by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

Concha y Toro UK rings in bumper Christmas as supermarkets break sales records

Published: 21 January, 2019

Temperatures were unseasonably mild over Christmas, and from the latest results, it looks like things were unexpectedly cosy for UK retail.

Range rationalisation: Surviving the squeeze

Published: 17 August, 2018

Angela Mount investigates how distributors and producers are shaping up to meet buyer demands as routes to market narrow.

E-commerce to represent 7.2% of FMCG retail by 2020

Published: 22 June, 2018

Retailers are being urged to adapt their strategies around the “evolution of channels” in light of research which showed that in 2017, 76% of fast-moving consumer goods’ (FMCG) value growth came from channels outside traditional supermarkets.