Coffee Republic has introduced wine and beer at some of its franchises in an effort to emulate the continental-style drinking culture.
UK franchise director Kevin Frostick said the company wasn’t pushing the concept, but where franchises wanted to sell alcohol, they would help with alcohol licence applications.
Tim Clarke, Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) chief executive, predicts the pub trade will lose another 40% of its beer volumes over the next 10 years.
He claims that trends suggest on-trade beer volumes will decline from 17 million barrels to 10 million barrels by 2018. The losses stem in large part from the huge gap between on-trade and off-trade pricing.
Instant messaging has slumped by 25% in the past year as social networking sites grow. Time spent on the likes of Windows Live Messenger fell in the UK from 3.9 billion minutes a month in April 2007 to 2.9 billion in April 2008. Time spent on social networking sites such as Facebook has increased by 1.3 billion minutes a month.
Source: The Sun 11-06-2008
In an attempt to beat the credit crunch, hard-pressed shoppers have gone coupon crazy. The number of people using money-off vouchers in retail outlets has increased by 30% in a year. 75% of people said increases in food prices and the cost of living was the reason for the shift in shopping behaviour.
Source: The Sun 11-06-2008
Ladbrokes has announced plans for a customer loyalty scheme in time for the UEFA Euro 2008 football tournament. The bookmaker has predicted a turnover of approximately £350 million from the scheme during the tournament. Punters who sign up to the OddsOn! scheme will automatically receive 200 bonus points, followed by one point for every £1 spent.
Source: Daily Mirror 04-06-2008
Cobra Beer is to launch a series of pub-based podcasts hosted by Xfm radio DJ Danny Wallace and comedian Dom Joly as it looks to position the beer brand beyond its Indian restaurant heartland.
The ‘Cobra Pubcast’ is part of the brand’s £14m ‘Now you’re talking’ campaign and is intended to support a shift into the mainstream. The Pubcast comprises 10 15-minute episodes of unscripted banter between the hosts and their guests and will be released fortnightly from 6 June.Fans will be able to download the recording through Cobra’s website and iTunes.Actor Mackenzie Crook will feature in the first episode followed by TV presenter Iain Lee.
The Steam bake off has reached round 2 and things are hotting up in the kitchen – and as the saying goes, if you can’t stand the heat, then perhaps an ice cold campari and an open necked shirt should suffice.
After weeks of munching on sponges, fruit breads, muffins, cakes and baked puddingly goodness the results are in and we’ve separated the Master Chefs from the Master Chuffs, leaving 10 to go through to the next round.
New legislation from the government will force pubs, clubs and even supermarkets to pay for extra police in areas highly affected by alcohol-fuelled yob culture. Alcohol-related violence costs Britain around £7.3 billion a year.
Source: Daily Mirror 05-06-2008
Licensees and suppliers are preparing for the second Proud of Pubs Week due to take place between 13-20 July 2008.
Proud of Pubs Week will see a national and local celebration of pubs, with licensees invited to take part in a range of activities during the week. Helen Blake, licensee of the Old Comical in Sandown on the Isle of Wight, said: “I’m fed up with all the negative stuff around pubs.
Britvic has launched Pepsi Xtra Cold, a Britvic-patented dispense system, that provides the perfect balance and consistency of carbonation, syrup mix and temperature to give consumers a flawless cola experience.
The system is expected to be installed at 800 Mitchells & Butlers pubs. The company developed Pepsi Xtra Cold in response to consumer research which found that taste and temperature were the most important aspects to customers buying cola in a pub.