Multiple Retailer - Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Waitrose expands English portfolio in a nod to English Wine Week

Published: 18 June, 2020

Waitrose is celebrating English Wine Week (20- 28 June) by launching five new and exclusive homegrown wines.

M&S encourages consumers to trade up with ‘Classics’ range

Published: 11 June, 2020

Marks & Spencer (M&S) has launched a new ‘Classics’ wine range comprising key wine styles from around the world.

Johnston Logistics reports eight-fold hike in alcohol throughput

Published: 09 June, 2020

Bonded warehousing and logistic experts Johnston Logistics has reported an eight-fold increase in its average throughput of wine and other alcohol during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Majestic reinstates click and collect from stores

Published: 27 May, 2020

Majestic Wine is allowing customers back to its stores for the first time since lockdown, with orders now available to collect from local stores.

Marketing spend and tone of voice labelled vital in Covid era

Published: 27 May, 2020

With the pandemic putting companies and brands under the microscope, businesses are being warned to pay close attention to how they communicate with consumers – and how vigorously they defend their market share.

Two out of the UK’s top five alcohol brands are wine

Published: 26 May, 2020

Wine has taken two of the top spots as the most purchased alcohol brands in the UK off-trade, with Hardys and McGuigan in second and fourth place respectively.

Alcohol weathers Covid-19 peaks and troughs to become second highest food and drink growth category

Published: 20 May, 2020

Alcohol has weathered the storm of the coronavirus, new figures show, beating packaged foods and other beverages to see a 25% uplift in value sales since the beginning of lockdown.

New ‘Deliveroo’ wine list accelerates Majestic partnership

Published: 19 May, 2020

Majestic Wine and Deliveroo have put the pedal to the metal to accelerate their UK partnership and cater for the lockdown generation.

Echo Falls launches Botanicals wine range

Published: 19 May, 2020

Accolade Wines is sandwiching two trends together for its latest release: a botanically infused, low abv wine aimed at the younger generation.

US number one hard seltzer brand sets it sights on UK domination

Published: 15 May, 2020

White Claw, the brand which has ignited a seltzer storm in the US, is now looking to replicate its success across the pond.

Aldi debuts first nolo spirit as part of 11 new launches

Published: 07 May, 2020

Aldi is getting ready for summer with raft of new spirits launches – one of which is its first ever own brand of non-alcoholic spirit.

Retail alcohol sales surge 31%

Published: 24 April, 2020

Alcohol sales in UK retailers surged 31.4% in volume terms in March, well ahead of overall supermarket sales which rose 10.3% during the month, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

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.

Majestic refocuses range, upping ‘interesting parcels’ at affordable level

Published: 16 April, 2020

In a move to reclaim its mojo, Majestic has unveiled a return to its “historic strengths” of exciting and unusual wines in its spring range review.

Waitrose claims UK supermarket first with ‘wine in a tube’

Published: 15 April, 2020

Waitrose has claimed a UK supermarket first with the launch of a fully recyclable ‘wine in a tube’ range.

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.

Aldi strips out Prosecco duplicates for Cava

Published: 13 March, 2020

Aldi is aiming to bring more variety to its customers via rationalisation of its latest seasonal range which will see greater inclusion of more experimental styles and varietals.

Co-op grows green offering

Published: 18 February, 2020

Co-op has expanded its green offering with its first unfiltered and organic natural wine alongside a new trio of other sustainably-sourced wines.

Big interview: John Colley, Majestic

Published: 14 February, 2020

John Colley, executive chairman and chief executive at Majestic, talks to Lisa Riley about taking the helm of the high street wine merchant and how letting customers guide the direction of the business is the way forward