Drinks Industry News

Shorts
Pear Rattler, unisex toilets, Cardiff cocktails and more in CGA’s weekly instalment of news, views and gossip.

Greene King confident despite giving help to struggling pubs
Greene King says that its wet-led venues are finding the trading climate to be rather grey at present. However, the company’s food-led outlets are enjoying noticeably sunnier times. The Suffolk brewer and pub owner announced a 1.6% like-for-like fall in its managed pubs and a 1.7% fall in its tenanted outlets for the 16 weeks to 24th August.

• Diageo proposes co-regulation and announces full year results
• Heineken stirred not shaken after small dip in profits
• Shorts: Gold medal celebrations, music in Yorkshire, new CENTRO

August 2008

• Global brands & Greene King bring out flavours for Autumn
• Shorts: Tewkesbury recovers, Tudor beers, refurbishments
• Tsingtao races ahead with Olympic sponsorship
• Marston’s goes into battle with Hull City and Innis and Gunn
• Shorts: Romans hold up Wetherspoons, Hammersmith BBQs, Miami in Newcastle
• Diageo to distill waste for renewable energy
• Shorts: Ha! Ha!ppy Birthday, membership perks, wine in PET, Cocktail hour
• Wells Bitter gets Red Tractor stamp, Magners plants more trees
• Shorts: New arrivals in Brighton, Swan celebrates, workers’ playtime

July 2008

• Premier Inn has more rooms after Express deal
• Pernod confident of growth with Absolut
• Shorts: Crowne Plaza recruits, Magners by the Avon, karaoke shots
• Drinks companies promote products from all angles
• Shorts: Christmas bookings, Wurzel Me Cider, Bulmers at the Open
• Wetherpoon’s chairman refers to government led inflation
• C&C forecasts mixed results
• Shorts: Treasury’s premium brands. Pop art , Dos Equis
• InBev wins over Anheuser-Busch
• Shorts: Revamps in Brixham, Panacea in The Edge, Monday morning at the bar
• New drinks, designs, campaigns and awards
• Shorts: Saving Stoke pubs, Draught Super Bock, Bondi in Whitby
• September set to be a fishy month

June 2008

• Shorts: Late starts in Wakefield, TSB becomes Loch Fyne, Bar Show snippets
• New Drinks
• Shorts: Caribbean lunch buffet, Forest Ales, facelift for Fern
• Costa donates Saturday’s profits to coffee making communities
• Fuller’s bolstered by food and off-trade sales
• Shorts: Venues revived and renamed, Bays brews in Torquay, Bulmers Light
• New drinks’ round up
• Diageo sponsor Lions, Wetherspoons celebrate Tigers
• Shorts: Exeter’s preferred ciders, Chicago shack, rocking in Nottingham

May 2008

• Orchid gives a helping hand to Fathers and trees
• Shorts: Derby’s new cinema, Blue Aftershock, Halifax nightlife
• Britvic’s fizzy drink sales flatter than still drink sales
• SABMiller finds geographical diversity to be a strong mix
• Shorts: openings in Exeter, cider flavours, Manchester clears up
• Whitbread unveils new concept of a restaurant for all occasions
• Tiger Beer draughted in, Everards' chocolate, Jade Jagger's dagger
• Shorts: Nottingham ghosts, Bulmers Pear selling well, CGA wine report
• Diageo grows while Stella gives consolation to InBev
• Shorts: New clubs for Derby and Chester, food sales, real ale in Southampton
• Pernod grows throughout the globe

April 2008

• Whitbread toasts financial year and anticipates future growth.
• Shorts: Revoked licence, vegan café, C2 popular with drivers
• Punch cooks with charcoal, to help beat smoking ban
• Is the British pub in terminal decline? By ‘The Week’
• Marston’s, Hook Norton, Beam Global and Adnams refresh their selections
• Shorts: Pub parrot, fake i.d, rotating cask ales
• Tyrrells’ founder believes potato-vodka will appeal
• Shorts: Smokers' TV, responsible sponsorship, closures, new names
• Greene King’s seasonal selection and Marston's new cricket beer
• Appletiser adds Fruitiser to the bowl
• Shorts: Byron in Kensington, Green Beer, Cornish Ales
• Halewood and Gaymers branch out cider selection

March 2008

• Carlsberg and Heineken get 99% shareholder approval for S&N takeover
• Pernod bolsters premium profile with Absolut acquisition
• Shorts: Warehouse parties in Long Eaton, Out & Out to Beefeater, Newark jazz
• Whitbread makes it a thousand Costas with Moscow opening
• Shorts: New star in East London, Wetherspoons festival, thirsty archaeologists
• InBev and Chang send winners to New York and Thailand
• Shorts: Challenge 21 in Mansfield, Angel’s noise problems, busy Saturdays in Wales
• Booze Budget 2008
• Tiger and Wadworth celebrate the sea but would Sir Walter approve?
• Wetherspoon’s cautious as Tim Martin talks of cultural drinking problem
• Shorts: Bath beer festival, opening of Blake’s , Beefeater for Birmingham
• InBev, Pernod, Whitbread and Magners report mixed fortunes
• Shorts: Charging by the clock, mobile Guinness, new Royal in Derby

February 2008

• InBev, Global Brands and others refresh their selection
• Shorts: Atomic Kitten, thrirteen Cookhouses, icy cider
• S&N gives price warning in swansong presentation
• Whitbread book Lenny Henry for Premier Inn campaign
• Shorts: Disaronno Amaretto, Bristol Beer Factory, picking between pears
• Guinness advert works its magic but Asia is best for Diageo
• S&N consult with 360 employees after brewery closure announcement
• Punch takeover of M&B still a city talking point
• Shorts: Prince William crowns Strongbow, Mailbox gets a cube, ID scanners
• Cains gets some cultural help from Sgt. Pepper's friend
• Shorts: Sunday morning clubbing, Grolsch Blond, organic wines
• Companies get into shape ahead of challenging year

January 2008

• Shorts: Cider sales, Heaven expands, Oceana’s rooms of the world
• Pernod’s profits expanded by Eastern growth
• Carlsberg and Heineken take control of Scottish & Newcastle
• Wickwar and Wold Top reap awards
• Wetherspoon sales cool despite a million coffees and teas
• Luminar profits from older dancers
• Shorts: last days of historic pub, snuffing out the smoking ban, Waggle Dance
• S&N and Carlsberg discuss 800p offer
• Magners warns full year sales will lack bite
• Punch confident of holding steady
• Diageo and Greene King urge rugby attack
• Shorts: Underground cider, Oranjeboom proves fruitful, a human right to tobacco
• Restaurant Group ready for spending squeeze

December 2007

• Heineken refreshes with Belarus acquisition
• Shorts: Victorian binge drinkers, minimum price proposal, giant igloo
• Shepherd Name and Fuller's give out Christmas supplies
• Halewood gets ready to unload Tsingtao
• Shorts: Kro spreads its wings, Derby staff shortage, Merlin Magic
• Whitbread opens Russian front for Costa Coffee
• Marston’s aims to expand drinker’s minds
• Shorts: NASA Technology, new German beer , Widness rocks
• S&N/Carlsberg dispute in arbitration, as Thwaites swallow LCL Pils
• ‘Summer drinks’ get Christmas campaigns
• Shorts: Pomegranates in Edinburgh, OK Karaoke in Leeds, Martha’s refurb

November 2007

• Whitbread fire starting gun for Beijing Costas
• S&N enjoy fruitful trading despite problems in France
• M&B order investigation after ‘supplier-sweatshop’ allegations
• Shorts: Chilling out in St Ives, tea infusions, circus in Liverpool
• CGA in the News
• Diageo puts Pimms in a pot
• Shorts: Flavoured Kronenbourg, renewable pub, Christmas brews
• SAB Miller continue to benefit from Polish migration
• S&N block Carlsberg’s “wholly inadequate” bid
• InBev results dragged back by UK performance
• Shorts: Fried scorpions, watching the brewers , Factory moves to Paradise
• Guinness takes its advertising to new heights
• Wetherspoon and Punch hopeful about non-smoking future
• Adnams and Hook Norton add brews to Christmas list
• Sovio semi-sparkling isn’t a wine, according to standards agency
• Shorts: Wetherspoon queues, Plymouth’s new Shisha bar, aftershocks

October 2007

• Pernod's first quarter boosted by emerging markets
• Aspall and Wychwood work to keep pace with growth
• Pilsner Urquell help put photographers in the spotlight
• Shorts: Beer bobbing, joy for Doombar, Kingly prices
• S&N find Baltic to be a hot property
• Chang Beer rides into UK pubs
• Shorts: Hereford enjoys the red stuff, apology to the Tartan Army, The Terminator
• Bavarian Gold hides its light
• Costa and Premier Inn spearhead Whitbread expansion
• Slimline RTD takes first steps in on trade
• Shorts: Lollipops go north, Birmingham burgers, fish cocktail
• Magners forced to squeeze cost base
• Bulmers Pear comes out in November
• Shorts: Bad signs on Broad Street, Pitcher V Que Pasa, life in Lincoln
• Shepherd Neame encouraged after first summer of the smoking ban
• Kopparbrerg and Thatchers give cider-drinkers new options
• Shorts: Bijou in Bristol, party in Paris, Jagermeister machine in Dawlish

September 2007

• San Miguel and Becks cultivate a taste for contemporary art
• InBev rolls out cinematic Stella site
• Shorts: Rocking in Rotherham, Kronenbourg food vouchers, popular pears
• Pernod predicts growth after dynamic year
• St Austell sponsor rugby, Thwaites go steady with blonde
• Shorts: C2 for 1p, take-away beer, big screen nintendo
• Wetherspoon wary on smoking ban, Punch downcast by weather
• Shorts: Facebook grapevine, morning Walkabout, ID scanners.
• French owners defend new look for Scottish dram
• Greene King fares better than Café Rouge in the rain
• Shorts: Eau de tobacco, new bite from Kobra, Factoberfest.

August 2007

• Diageo raises 2008 target and rolls out the ‘Red Stuff’