The reported operating profit of £4bn, increased 9.5%, driven by organic growth, according to the company. It says all regions contributed to broad based organic net sales growth, up 6.1%, with organic volume up 2.3%. Organic operating profit grew 9%, ahead of top line organic growth, driven by improved price/mix and productivity benefits from everyday cost efficiencies, partially offset by cost inflation and…

Normally the preserve of Chile, although it was originally a Bordeaux variety, winemaker Izele van Blerk, in charge of KWV’s premium wines, has unveiled a “limited edition of fewer than 1,000 litres, sequentially numbered bottles of The Mentors Carménère 2017”. It is expected to retail for about £40. In London yesterday (July 1) to launch the Carménère, she told DI that this is the first of…

Geoff Watts will remain as the managing director and the rest of the team will not experience any significant changes, says the statement. Luxembourg-based ABG first acquired a stake in Cellar Trends in May 2017. Later in 2018 the rapidly growing company increased its ownership to 70%. Amber CEO Seymour Ferreira (pictured) said: “By adding Cellar Trends to our powerful team, we are not only…

The Secret Speyside Collection is a selection of 18 to 30-year-old whiskies that comer from four of Speyside’s distilleries. There are malts from the long gone distillery of Caperdonich, the pioneering Longmorn distillery, Glen Keith, and the remote Braes of Glenlivet distillery. The 15 bottle collection comprises: three rare single malts from each of GlenKeith, Longmorn and Braes of Glenlivet, with three peated and three…

Carter replaces Chris Porter and will take up his position on July 15. Since 2017 Carter has headed up the foodservice and hospitality division of exhibition organiser, Fresh Montgomery, where he has led the strategic repositioning of the UK’s longest standing hospitality trade event Hotelympia, now HRC. During his time at the LWF, Carter moved the national wine trade event back to Olympia, increasing the…

And so, instead of resting up after attending TFWA Asia Pacific and then having a holiday travelling around Malaysia, I headed off to Stockholm. In a nutshell, the Ballantine’s Prestige team at Pernod Ricard’s whisky division, Chivas Bros, had arranged to launch Ballantine’s Glenburgie 18 Year Old in a cellar approximately 25 metres down under the Swedish capital, Stockholm. Why Sweden and Stockholm, one might…

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Since the original buyout of Loch Lomond from the Bulloch family in 2014, the company says it has invested significantly in growing its portfolio of brands, distillery and bottling infrastructure, global distribution platform, and management team. The business now generates about 70% of its revenue from more than 120 international markets, versus fewer than 10% at acquisition.

The Domaine Evremond vineyard is a joint venture between Champagne Taittinger, which claims to be the only grande marque champagne house to be run by its eponymous family – its UK agency Hatch Mansfield, and friends. Taittinger viticulturist Christelle Rinville, oversaw the new plantings at the site in south-east England. These latest plantings upon former arable land, with chalk soil and south-facing slopes, comprise Pinot…

Making its debut at the TFWA (Tax Free World Association) Asia Pacific trade exhibition in Singapore, the Chilean wine giant unveiled, the ‘Casillero del Diablo Route of Cabernet Sauvignon’, featuring Cabernets from three well known valleys – Maule, Rapel and Maipo. Initially available at Singapore’s Changi airport, the wines are now being rolled in GTR. They comprise: (Singapore dollars) $35, $55 and $85 with a…