The case for cutting spirits duty was taken into the heart of Westminster today when the Scotch Whisky Association met Jane Ellison MP, financial secretary to the Treasury. The SWA has been lobbying for a 2% tax cut under the Stand up for Scotch banner and met Ellison to discuss the pressures the industry currently faces. On average 77% of the price of a bottle…

Carlsberg UK’s revitalisation of its Carlsberg brand continues with the launch of limited edition packaging for its 3.8% abv beer – called The Kobenhavn Collection – as part of a planned £15m spend to connect with millennial drinkers.  Each pack within the Collection embodies an abstract interpretation of Carlsberg beer’s ingredients: barley, hops and yeast; all inspired by the simplicity of Danish design. The limited…

Pernod Ricard is bidding to show that wine can match rival categories in the innovation stakes with the UK launch of Jacob’s Creek Double Barrel Shiraz. The wine goes through the usual maturation process of a top Jacob’s Creek red and then undergoes a secondary maturation in a Scotch whisky ask to add complexity. Pernod Ricard has previously experimented with cross-category maturation techniques by ageing…

Maxxium UK has revealed its strategy for accelerating spirits sales growth over the next five years for the off-trade and on-trade channels. The spirits distributor and branded whisky supplier released the findings of its largest ever category research project this week, whereby it said it has identified a £942m sales growth opportunity, which it said is achievable by 2020. This is an increase of 10%…

Heineken is tripling its media spend on its Old Mout Cider brand to include the launch of a multi-million pound campaign this month. The national campaign, which goes live this week, builds on the brand’s philosophy of encouraging drinkers to get ‘the Kiwi taste for adventure’. Craig Clarkson, off-trade category & trade marketing director at Heineken, said: “We have tripled our media spend on Old…

Heineken has prevailed in a dispute with Alcohol Concern, which complained to the advertising watchdog that a Bulmers promotion giving away trainers would appeal to underage drinkers. The anti-alcohol charity argued that the Converse trainers the supplier was giving away could have “particular appeal to people under 18 years of age”. Drinkers of Bulmers were encouraged to send in pictures of their cider in a…

Kopparberg hopes to win over drinkers that find lager too bitter and fruit cider too sweet with its new lemon and limed flavoured fruit lager. The Swedish cider producer claims it is filling a gap in the market between low-abv fruit offerings from the likes of Carling, Carlsberg and Fosters and the higher-abv continental craft fruit lagers like Frulli. Kopparberg fruit lager comes with an…