BrandsBriefs

Bright outlook for moonshine

Point-of-sale material including posters, postcards and table cards are available for Poitin 50 - so-called because this classic Irish moonshine used to be brewed in small pots by moonlight - to promote the brand around St Patrick's Day on 17 March.

Hi-Spirits, which distributes the Irish

grain-based spirit in the UK, is suggesting serving it in a "Hell's Kitchen" cocktail, made with 45ml Poitin 50, 65ml cloudy apple juice and 10ml lemon juice, served over crushed rosemary leaves and ice.

St David's storms England

Welsh brewer SA Brain claims to have doubled sales of its St David's seasonal ale. The company claimed that many of the extra sales of the beer ­- launched for St David's Day on 1 March - were in England, where it has sold 80,000 pints. Sales and marketing director Richard Davies said: "We put a lot of work into redesigning the sales kit to provide high-quality promotional material - and it has really paid off."

Galaxy launches cocktail

Galaxy chocolate has produced a non-alcoholic cocktail to help promote its sponsorship of the British Book awards at the end of March. The Galaxy Cocktail was created by mixologist Xhulio Sina from the Sketch bar in London. It involves melting Galaxy in heated milk, cooling for one hour before shaking with vanilla syrup, and straining into a Martini glass.

Big D spices up chilli nuts

Big D is introducing an improved recipe for its chilli nuts. The new-taste nuts are available on cards of 12 x 50g bags.

Hayley Roth, marketing controller for Big D firm Trigon said: "We know that the nation's tastes are changing and that spicier snacks are becoming more popular. We carried out trials before we launched the new flavour and are confident that this new recipe will be a popular choice among punters. We're committed to the pub sector and, with our new product development plans and bold personality, we are well placed to help grow the category by offering consumers greater choice."

The chilli nuts are available on a pub card featuring a picture of "Big D Babe" Malene.