As fruit beer gains momentum, Co-op has announced a nationwide listing of Chouffe Cherry.  Chouffe said the listing follows the beer’s strong momentum, with volumes up more than 50% year on year compared with the same period in 2025.  The latest in a series of announcements from the brand, Chouffe recently launched a 0.0% version of its flagship beer, alongside securing…

Before her maternity leave kicks in this week, Jo Gilbert took a moment to pause and reflect with Pierpaolo Petrassi MW, who has now departed his category leading role at Waitrose for pastures new. There is a timely symmetry to my conversation with Pierpaolo Petrassi MW, one of the most enduringly influential names in modern drinks retail, who officially…

Exchange for Change has confirmed the fees retailers will receive for collecting drinks containers under the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), with payments ranging from 3p per container for manual returns to 5p for reverse vending machine collections. Exchange for Change, the administrator tasked with rolling out the scheme, has confirmed that return handling fees (RHFs) will be paid on a tiered…

On-pack promotions are enjoying a resurgence in popularity among shoppers, according to the latest findings from  retail and shopper marketing agency, Savvy. Carried out across a representative sample of 1,000 UK shoppers, the findings revealed that 78% of shoppers say they like it when food, drink and grocery brands run on-pack promotions, up from 65% in 2024. At the same time, 59% report…

Our new soapbox-style feature is part of Retail Ready – a new Drinks Retailing initiative which aims to bring the trade together through an exciting series of podcasts and events to help businesses actively prepare for the future. In the first of the series, Jeroboams CEO Matt Tipping reflects on how independent retailers can navigate rising costs, fragile consumer confidence and policy…

Most retailers felt their business performed better than last year this festive season, a survey by Drinks Retailing found.  When asked about the 2025 festive trading period compared with the previous year, 56% of retailers said they had done better, while 37% reported about the same performance, and only 6% said they had done worse.  Notably, retailers said that Champagne sales were down,…

As the year draws to a close and we prepare to take the leap into the second half of another decade, all of us at Drinks Retailing would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to our readers for their continued support. It’s been another testing, but inspiring, year for the drinks trade: 2025 was shaped by shifting consumer habits, rising costs and plenty…