Waitrose has lined up a partnership with Gordon’s gin owner Diageo to highlight low and no alcohol drinks. The activation includes dedicated low/no areas at 253 Waitrose stores across the UK, which will highlight the supermarket’s range of around 70 low alcohol and alcohol-free drinks. The retailer said sales of the category have increased 20% in the past year, with beer continuing to grow apace.

Received wisdom says that branded spirits won’t sell in significant volumes in convenience stores. They do, of course, but to sell them successfully requires understanding how. Theoretically, establishing an attractive, well-stocked fixture incorporating well-known spirit brands should get sales rolling. Except the real world isn’t like that. Apart from anything else, space is limited. However, there are some basics that do get…

Distributor and retailer Amathus Drinks has launched a service to advise customers on wines and spirits. The private client service will guide customers who are looking for special bottles for celebrations, events, corporate gifting or stocking up their cellars.    Customers who sign up to the service will “benefit from expert suggestions tailored to their interests and tastes,…

While the debate in Scottish parliament continues regarding the contentious deposit return scheme, and whether to grant small business an additional year to comply or not, the result for Scottish customers will remain the same in the end, believes Richard Davis from Bristol’s DBM Wines.  The Scottish Deposit Return Scheme is set to create a barrier that will exclude wine buyers north of the border…

Online low and no alcohol retailer DryDrinker.com has extended its offer to trade customers. The platform, founded by Stuart Elkington, will now cater for small businesses and independent retailers as well as on-trade customers. Elkington said new customers would receive a 10% discount upon sign up, no minimum spend, and free delivery for orders over £100. “Launching our offering to trade customers is something I’ve…

Jascots Wine Merchants has reported a rise in both revenue and new customers in 2022 as it continues its focus on premiumisation.  Jascots described 2022 as a “strong” year. Overall, revenue increased by 84% compared to 2021, while the merchant reported 270 new trade customers over the course of the year. The premium sector proved most successful for Jascots, which the merchant…

Manchester-based brewer Beer Nouveau compiled a list of 83 British breweries that closed in 2022 in the wake of Covid and soaring costs. The list comprised only those who’d gone public about their closure and didn’t include Beer Nouveau itself, which revealed in October that it was calling time. Among the (relatively) big independents to go were Kelham Island, Twisted Wheel and…