Wine industry veteran Barbara Laithwaite has been made a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) as part of the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours List.   Laithwaite, who is co-chairman of Laithwaites Wines and founder of Oxfordshire’s Wyfold, initially began her career in 1970 when joining her sister’s friend and now husband, Tony Laithwaite, in his start-up business, Bordeaux Direct. Then, in 2003, she planted…

From alternative packaging to better value options, Drinks Retailing’s recent London Wine Fair panel discussion explored the biggest trends in off-trade. Hosted by Drinks Retailing editor Lucy Britner, the expert panel was made up of Marks & Spencer head of BWS transformation, Andrew Shaw; YesMore agency co-founder Tom Harvey; Vineyards owner Hannah Wilkins and Kam Research head of insights Laurence Brown.  In light…

Romanian winery Cramele Recas has developed a new wine bottle made entirely from recycled plastic recovered from the Danube river. The bottle is ready to roll out to the UK and the first launch is a Cabernet Sauvignon under the Richtig Lecker brand name.   According to Cramele Recas, the Danube currently transports “approximately 1,500 tonnes of PET plastic into the Black Sea every year”.

A beer made using Yorkshire puddings has won Aldi’s Next Big Thing competition – and it is now available at stores nationwide. The Aldi competition, which was featured on Channel 4, saw hopeful suppliers compete for space on the supermarket’s shelves. Malton Brewery’s Yorkshire Pudding Beer (£1.49/50cl), which was first made in 2019, is brewed with half a Yorkshire pudding. Creators…

The CEO of Naked Wines has admitted the company has made mistakes in pursuit of rapid growth, as the firm shakes up the board and makes redundancies. In an operational and financial update, issued today, CEO Nick Devlin said: “We recognise that in pursuit of rapid growth we have made mistakes. Whilst the business today remains materially bigger than pre-pandemic, in 2021 we bought inventory…

Cointreau has launched a redesigned version of its liqueur bottles, which are now made from “two-thirds recycled glass”.  Describing the brand refresh as the “most momentous of its kind in 140 years”, both the bottle and the label have been altered.  As well as looking to boost its sustainability credentials by using recycled glass, convenience and practicality was also a consideration when redesigning the…

Several retailers, including the Co-op and Morrisons, have taken Russian-made vodka off their shelves, in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. In a statement, the Co-op said the decision is a “sign of solidarity with the people of Ukraine”. The company said “Russian-made vodka” will “not be stocked for the foreseeable future”. A spokesperson for the Co-op confirmed to Drinks Retailing that the only…