Asda has revealed ambitious plans to become the UK’s leading craft beer retailer after bolstering its range with more than 100 brews from across the world. The retailer has axed a lot of duplication in mainstream lager to make room for the new beers, which include several exclusives. The idea is to broaden customer choice while cutting out drinks that do a similar job, and…

A specialist importer of central and eastern European wines has opened its first shop, in Brighton. Pacta Now is run by Trevor Long and Judith Burns, whose long-term plan is to open 10 shops around the country specialising in the wines of central and eastern Europe. It has opened as a stall in Brighton’s recently-refurbished Open Market, and Long said consumers’ response has been “phenomenal”…

Carlsberg UK is attempting to take on the might of Magners, Strongbow, Stella Artois Cidre et al by launching a new mainstream cider brand. Somersby Cider was launched in Scandinavia in 2008 before expanding into 22 countries, and it will hit UK shelves this month. The cider is produced in Herefordshire and Carlsberg said it blends modern technology with traditional techniques to create “a crisp,…