The monthly round-up of what’s new in low/no, beer, cider, wine, spirits, RTDs and mixers. SPIRITS Dunnet Bay Mapmakers spiced rum £35 USP: Dunnet Bay Distillers is launching its first-ever rum. It combines Dunnet’s house rum, Carribbean rum, Loch Calder water and local botanicals, resulting in notes of banana, toffee and salted caramel with a “light peppery…

“It’s an interesting time to be a wine buyer,” says Charles Cutteridge, wine sourcing manager for Morrisons. “There are a lot of changes coming in terms of duty which will affect the kinds of products we put on shelves, so it will be interesting to see how consumers react to this.” With 10 years of experience in the wine industry under his belt,…

Several retailers have signed an accord to reduce the average weight of 75cl still wine bottles in their ranges. Retailers including Lidl, Naked Wines, Waitrose and The Wine Society have signed up to global industry body the Sustainable Wine Roundtable’s (SWR) Bottle Weight Accord to stock lighter bottles. The average 75cl still wine bottle weight today is approximately 550 grams, the SWR said. The pledge…

The Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) has welcomed this week’s announcement from shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper that Labour would crackdown on shoplifting and violence against shop workers. In a speech to the Labour Party Conference, Cooper said that a Labour government would stand with the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, the Co-op, Tesco and small convenience stores “with a new law…

Molson Coors Beverage Company has announced plans to invest £10 million in its Tadcaster brewery, in order to increase production capacity and efficiency, and reduce emissions. The investment programme, scheduled to take place over the next two years, will increase the brewery’s capacity to produce beers including Carling, Coors, Madri Excepcional and Worthington’s, using “more advanced, energy-efficient equipment”. The Tadcaster Tower Brewery counts around 100…

Chianti Classico – quick facts Country: Italy Region: Tuscany, between Florence and Siena Production zone: 47km from north to south, comprising 70,000 ha. Of those 70,000 ha, 9,800 is under vine, and about 6,800 ha is used in the production of Chianti Classico. Almost two thirds of the…

Industry charity The Drinks Trust has lined up a new scheme to help businesses better support employees. The Business Advisory Programme (BAP) is designed to help companies execute a meaningful wellbeing strategy through a service that provides ongoing support and “proactive welfare solutions”. The Drinks Trust said the UK is facing an employee absenteeism crisis due to stress and mental health problems. Citing a survey…