Spanish wine and spirits business, Zamora Company has positioned itself amongst “niche” categories to achieve sustainable growth.

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) is hosting a ‘Brexit debate’ at this year’s London Wine Fair.

Halewood Wines & Spirits and Tsingtao Brewery have agreed mutually not to renew their longstanding distribution agreement.

Beam Suntory has acquired the remaining 50% shareholding of its South African distributor, ABV Brands, from the company founders, Ross Calow, Daniel Hawkins and Igor Boyadjian.

Tickets have been released for the seventh annual Distillers’ City Debate on Thursday 3 May 2018 in London.

AB InBev subsidiary company, ZX Ventures has purchased Atom Group for an undisclosed fee.

William Grant & Sons has appointed Doug Bagley as managing director for Asia Pacific, effective 14 May 2018.

An agreement has been made between 80% shareholder, the CHAMP III Funds (CHAMP) and 20% shareholder, Constellation Brands, Inc. (Constellation) to sell 100% of Accolade Wines to The Carlyle Group for A$1 billion.

Anheuser-Busch InBev has completed the 50:50 merger of the AB InBev and Anadolu Efes Russia and Ukraine businesses.

A senior management change at Toorank has led to the decision to retire the ‘Dutch Spirits’ brand and bring the whole group back under the Toorank umbrella.

Fever-Tree co-founder Charles Rolls has sold 2.6% of his shares in the company for £82.5m, leaving an 8.6% stake under his name.

Scottish brewing company, BrewDog has taken full ownership of the entire Draft House estate of 14 bars across London and south east England.

In the same week that the secretary of state signed a joint statement on trade collaboration, some of the WSTA team led a group of English wine and British gin producers on a trade mission, which - for the first time - was jointly funded by the UK government.

Drinks manufacturer and distributor Global Brands has reported a +16% increase in sales, taking turnover to £42m for its financial year ending 30 September 2017.

As reported in the February issue of Drinks International, Henkell the German sparkling wine company, has finalised the deal to buy 50.67% of Freixenet SA’s shares.

Diageo has announced the acquisition of Belsazar GmbH, a premium aperitif from Germany’s Black Forest for an undisclosed fee.

Macedonian Thrace Brewery (MTB) has welcomed the success in its long-running legal battle with Heineken and its 98.8%-owned Greek operating subsidiary, Athenian Brewery (AB), for anti-competitive market abuses in Greece.

Coca-Cola’s plans to release an alcoholic beverage in Japan in 2018 is a survival strategy according to big data experts.

Maxxium UK has announced that it is to change its name to Edrington-Beam Suntory UK Distribution Limited, from April 1.

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association’s annual conference has been recognised by the European Association Awards ceremony in Belgium.

William Grant & Sons has appointed Enda O’Sullivan as managing director to Latin America, overseeing the hoped for growth of the company’s brand portfolio. 

Tales of the Cocktail is now under new ownership bringing to an end a controversial period for the New Orleans festival.

Sales of Jameson Irish whiskey have increased 12% in the first half of the 2018 financial year to become Pernod Ricard’s joint largest whiskey brand in terms of volume.

The drinks industry’s first global intelligence network, Drinktank, has been set up to change the way brands work with the on-trade.

Diageo has paired up with consumer insights company Join the Dots to further understand the consumption trends in Africa.

Bacardi Limited, the world’s largest privately held spirits company, has announced the internal promotion of Vijay S. Subramaniam to managing director - Asia Pacific, the Middle East & Africa (AMEA).

Pernod Ricard has renewed its partnership with the Erasmus Students Network on raising awareness of responsible drinking for students within Europe.

Diageo, the world’s largest premium spirits company, has announced its interim results for six months ended December 31, 2017.

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association has been shortlisted for two European Association Awards, which will take place on February 23 in Brussels.

Tesco has renewed its role as gold level corporate patron of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET).

Business speakers at the International Bulk Wine and Spirits Show will cover private lable strategies and maximising profits over two days in London this February.

While UK Millennials are drinking less than their parents, they remain a significant market for alcohol producers, according to GlobalData.

De Kuyper Royal Distillers has announced that it is to cooperate with Beam Suntory in marketing its brands in the Netherlands.

Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association has praised the decision made by chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond to freeze UK wine and spirits duty.

The Stoli Group has announced the appointment of Cellar Trends as the exclusive distributor for its portfolio in the UK, effective January 1, 2018.

Dutch distiller, Dutch Spirits, has announced the retirement of founder and owner Toon Blij from his role as CEO who will be replaced by Andy Mallows, former managing director.

Global premium spirits business William Grant & Sons has reported profits of £222.1m after tax for the year ended 31 December 2016.

De Kuyper Royal Distillers has acquired Cherry Heering, one of the oldest cherry liqueurs in the world, from its brand owner Peter F. Heering.

Distell, South Africa’s leading wine, spirits and cider company, is gearing up to punch above its weight.

William Grant & Sons has announced three changes to its leadership team in the UK and EMEA regions.

William Grant & Sons has announced three changes to its leadership team in the UK and EMEA regions.

Pernod Ricard has achieved more than €9 billion in sales for its financial year 2016/17.

Pernod Ricard has recorded a +3.6% organic sales growth for the 2017 financial year and a +22% free cash flow growth.

The WSTA wants ‘the right’ Brexit deal with the EU to ensure trade is uninterrupted now that wine is the UK’s sixth most exported food and drink product.

Andrew King, CEO of Funkin, spoke to Hamish Smith about business in the current cocktail climate

Cockspur rum will be distributed through Quintessential Brands’ off-trade and on-trade distribution arms - Essential Drinks and Marblehead Brand Development respectively - from September 1, 2017.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, has reached a non-binding agreement with Anadolu Efes to merge its existing Russia and Ukraine businesses.

David Cox is set to retire as chief executive at The Benevolent, the drinks industry charity at the end of the year.

Funkin has signed a partnership deal with De Kuyper Royal Distillers, which will become its exclusive Netherlands distributor. 

Italian drinks group Gruppo Campari has announced ‘very good results’ for the first half of 2017 with total sales reaching €844.7m, an organic growth of 6.8%.