Blackthorn £1.5m overhaul
06-Mar-2009 By Sonya Hook
Blackthorn cider is set to undergo a major overhaul to include an improved flavour, reduced abv and a new look. Gaymer Cider Company is investing...
Magners' share of UK cider market falls
03-Mar-2009 By Hamish Champ
Magners producer C&C Group said its share of the UK cider market fell by three percentage points in volume terms last year and the market was...
Kopparberg launches elderflower and lime cider
25-Feb-2009
We've had pear cider, strawberry cider, iced draught cider… and now the latest attempt to breathe new life into the cider category is an...
Alcoholic ginger beer launches
23-Feb-2009
Halewood International is targeting the on-trade with the launch of an alcoholic ginger beer that it hopes can capitalise on the over ice drinking...
Comment: What's your drinks offer?
20-Feb-2009
I'm just coming to the end of the trawl of the country's finest pubs that always forms part of the judging for the Publican Awards at this time of...
Watching the watchdog
16-Feb-2009
THERE IS finally some hope for pubs and drinks companies facing increased crackdowns on how they promote themselves.Mark Hunter, chief executive of...
Comment: Magners' success once again rests on marketing
16-Feb-2009
Can any product be worth the wait we've had for Magners Pear?The cider's maker, C&C, has officially confirmed that it is to launch a pear variant...
Marketing director leaves Magners
13-Feb-2009
The shake-up at Magners producer C&C continues with the departure of marketing director Maurice Breen, one of the men responsible for the recent...
Day in the life: Her Brothers' keeper
12-Feb-2009
This is a crucial time for Brothers Drinks, and the company needs good people steering the cider brand, as it bids to develop its presence in the...
Opinion: Coming together to deal with the devil
10-Feb-2009
"Try to think as the other person thinks" - Michael Corleone: The Godfather - Part IIThe government is big on dealing with a single message from the...
Oh Brother!
09-Feb-2009
AT A time when doom is piled high upon economic doom, it would be reasonable to assume that those working within a sector that is experiencing its...
Magners Pear launched
09-Feb-2009
Magners is to launch a long-awaited pear variant next month, it has been confirmed.The Publican exclusively revealed in November that brand owner...
Opinion: Shadows cast over Magners in the cider orchard
04-Feb-2009
Magners producer C&C posted some pretty striking results recently that raised major questions. Are the struggles of the market-leading brand that...
03-Feb-2009 By MA reporter
Every licensee wants to back a winner. So to help you become a winner, the MA recently compiled a brand new listing of the 50 drinks that made the...
Opinion: The good, bad and ugly of our battle Vs anti-alcohol brigade
26-Jan-2009
A pair of stories broke last week that illustrate the good and the bad in the battle our industry is engaged in against the anti-alcohol brigade.On...
Opinion: 99p pint won't be around long
20-Jan-2009
The real question that arises from the Wetherspoon's 99p pint story is: what happens if these extreme promotions become the norm? You'll see from...
Constellation restructures
07-Jan-2009
Constellation Europe has announced major changes to its structure, with two senior members of the team appointed to new positions. The UK and...
Untangling the Matthew Clark/ Punch Taverns tie-up
07-Jan-2009
MATTHEW CLARK'S role in supplying UK pubs was already complicated enough before Punch Taverns took a 50 per cent stake in it in mid-2007. Acquired by...
Could drinks price war be on horizon?
07-Jan-2009
Competition among managed pubcos over drinks pricing appears to be hotting up following Wetherspoon's decision to discount Greene King IPA to 99p per...
'Tesco in probe over 'cut-price' drink offer'
06-Jan-2009
Tesco has been accused of advertising cut price alcohol while failing to ensure that it had enough stock to meet demand and is set to be investigated...
CWF launches pear cider
19-Dec-2008 By Matt Eley Matt
Drinks producer CWF has launched Nectar's - a five per cent pear cider - in both the on and off-trade. The company said its aim was to create the...
'EU backs down on pint ban'
17-Dec-2008
Britain has won the last round of its battle to keep pints and miles, Euro MPs ruled yesterday. Decades of wrangling between London and Brussels over...
Comment: Queen's speech no concern for responsible licensees
15-Dec-2008
Should the content concerning the drinks industry in the Queen's Speech cause us concern?As debate continues following the Policing and Crime Bill...
Dispense innovation brings sales
05-Dec-2008
What have the Grolsch swing-top bottle, Magners and Guinness Extra Cold all got in common? When they were first launched, they were all examples of...
Opinion: Barrrr, Darling!
01-Dec-2008
The fourth series of Blackadder got great comic mileage out of a character simply because his name was Darling. If only such mirth could be found in...
Get the punters in
28-Nov-2008
Pubs and bars have taken quite a pounding in recent months, as the off trade, and supermarkets in particular, entices customers away from their local...
Opinion: Decide the future of your drinks offer
21-Nov-2008
Speakers at the recent Publican Pub Trade Summit made one consistent point above all - and I believe deciding whether you agree with it is vital to...
New product variants for Magners
18-Nov-2008
Magners maker C&C looks set to launch one or more new variants to the cider brand late this year or early in 2009.It is widely expected that the...
S&N trials iced cider and lager
13-Nov-2008
Scottish and Newcastle (S&N) is coming to the end of a 12-week on-trade trial of an iced draught serve of Strongbow.It is also about to start a...
Below-cost selling not "immoral", says former Asda chief
12-Nov-2008 By James Wilmore
Business leader and former Asda chief Archie Norman has argued that below-cost selling of alcohol is not "immoral" - but supermarkets should agree to...
Opinion: Why the secrecy, drinks producers?
10-Nov-2008
Am I alone in wishing there wasn't such a need for secrecy among drinks producers? At a time when the pub trade is crying out for a spark of...
Economic downturn provides opportunities
10-Nov-2008
MANY OF us carry out business operations on the basis of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. So, in some respects, recessions can be good for us in...
Magners Draught TV ad launched
04-Nov-2008
Magners has released a new 30-second TV ad for its recently-launched draught product that will run until mid-November.Magners owner C&C will be...
Can new product innovation arrest declining sales?
30-Oct-2008
Drinks producers need to focus on developing new products in order to target changing consumer demographics among pub goers, according to a new...
Aspall rolls out mulled cider
30-Oct-2008
Cider company Aspall has launched a mulled cider product in time for winter.It follows a successful on-trade trial last year in around 30 London...
Cider: CAMRA's cider month
28-Oct-2008
SOME PEOPLE are never happy. While the Magners boom brought cider back to the forefront of the minds of the masses, there are cider connoisseurs out...
Cider: Pear essentials
28-Oct-2008
It was about two years ago that I was first made aware of Kopparberg pear cider. It was to be the next big thing, according to the pub company buyer...
Cider: A snake in the grass?
28-Oct-2008
When pub companies were asked on behalf of The Publican Industry Report 2008 what the biggest-selling cider was in their estates, time and again the...
Magners Pub Comedy Awards
22-Oct-2008
Watch the highlights video further down this page.From Newcastle to Northamptonshire, Manchester to Minehead they came… to help put a smile on the...
13-Oct-2008 By Jessica Harvey
Magners Light will begin its national roll-out from December with 15,000 free cases being offered to licensees who want to trial the low calorie...
09-Oct-2008 By The PMA Team
Maurice Pratt, boss of the firm that makes Magners cider, C&C, has resigned because of the company's "clear trading difficulties". In a...
Heritage Drinks salutes its local heroes
01-Oct-2008
It is hard to know what to do with a drinks brand when it has lost a bit of its previous sparkle. Newcastle Brown Ale, Newcastle Exhibition,...
01-Oct-2008 By Gemma McKenna
Apples and pears can help save the Great British pub, according to the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra). October is National Cider & Perry Month,...
30-Sep-2008 By MA Reporter
Win tickets to see Alan Carr at the Brighton Comedy Festival plus a case of Magners Irish Cider.
11-Sep-2008 By Ewan Turney
Asda will stop selling any beers or cider that offer "extra free" in Scotland from 30 September. The supermarket giant has taken the step to remove...
Kopparberg Q&A: Ciderman and his amazing blends
09-Sep-2008
Magners is facing tough competition from rival ciders, a lot of them accused of being copycats that hopped on a bandwagon, or cheap variants of apple...
£2m support for Newcastle Brown, McEwan's and Scrumpy Jack
09-Sep-2008
A £2m marketing support package has been placed behind Newcastle Brown Ale, McEwan's, Youngers, Newcastle Exhibition, Woodpecker and Scrumpy Jack.It...
Profit from premium products at major Publican event
05-Sep-2008
When the stellar line-up of speakers takes to the stage at the Premium Innovation conference at London's Commonwealth Club on Tuesday, September 30,...
Drinks giant slams Scottish government
01-Sep-2008
Diageo has slammed plans by the Scottish government to crack down on pubs' alcohol sales and promotions, and proposed an alternative system of...
Magners loses its fizz as sales slide
31-Aug-2008 By Hamish Champ
Magners producer C&C Group signalled that the cider market had lost some of its fizz when it warned last week that its turnover for the six...
