The group stages of the 23/24 Champions League get underway tonight, with Newcastle, Celtic and Man City all in action.
With the games all live on TNT Sport, be sure to find a pub near you to watch the match.
Month / September 2023
Two pubs closing a day
We’re not gonna lie, this sort of news is just so hard to read. Terrible for everyone. Licensees. Regulars. Pub lovers. Tax payers.
That’s why our mission to help pubs is even more important than ever. In fact, it fires us up even more. We promise you, we will continue to do everything we can to help you find pubs, visit pubs and spend more money in them. You’ll have an altogether better life and pubs will put just a little bit more of your hard earned money in their tills.
Start following all your favourite pubs and we’ll tell you what’s happening, where and when. You can even share your own pub maps with your friends and get them to share theirs too. That way, we’ll all go to the pub more often, and this sort of news will soon be tomorrow’s fish & chip paper.
To the pub!
Cider for the Rugby World Cup
Who’s excited for more from the 2023 Rugby World Cup this weekend?
Research from PROOF Insight found that cider is expected to prove popular among watchers, with 37% saying of you saying you’ll be drinking it in your favourite pubs.
Whether it’s an Orchard Pig bursting with West Country apples, or a classic Magners served over ice, find which pubs in your area are serving these fan-favourites.
This content was brought to you by our friends and partners at Matthew Clark, a leading national drinks wholesaler, who are part of C&C Group.
Weekly Newsletter from PROOF Insight
This week: The Future of Cocktails; Dynamic drinks pricing; Rugby World Cup chaos
Research news
The Future of Cocktails: How important is alcohol content to cocktail drinkers?
PROOF’s latest Intelligence report – The Future of Cocktails – reveals the importance of alcohol content in cocktails. Alcohol content is the 4th most important functional driver into the cocktails category, with 52% of cocktail drinkers listing it as an important consideration against 43% of all alcohol drinkers.
However, when it comes to knowing the ABV content of their favourite cocktails, drinkers fail to pick up the variation between serves. They were generally aware that Pimm’s and Pina Colada are among the lower-strength cocktails but widely underestimated the alcohol content of Margarita and Espresso Martini. Drinkers also thought an Old Fashioned was half as strong (13.4%) as it really is (29.5%).
The Future of Cocktails also revealed cocktail drinkers’ desire to see alcohol content on menus. 45% of cocktail drinkers wanted to see it, making it the third most crucial factor behind flavour descriptors and a complete list of ingredients. There is a debate to be had around how alcohol content is best displayed on a cocktail menu. ABV is largely understood by consumers and gives them a sense of how strong the taste of alcohol will be, but without volume, it doesn’t tell the consumer how much alcohol is actually in the cocktail. On the other hand, units take into account volume but are generally less well understood and, without volume, don’t tell the consumer how strong the taste of alcohol will be.
PROOF is presenting a webinar presenting the key findings of their new report on Thursday 21st of September from 4-5 p.m.
Click here to register for the webinar
Sources: PROOF Intelligence – The Future of Cocktails
Industry news
Stonegate implements ‘dynamic’ drinks pricing
Implemented in 800 of its 4,000 venues, the price of drinks rises during weekends and evenings, to cover the cost of additional staff, licensing requirements and security, whilst deals are available at quieter times. The Coach House in central London sees 20p added to a pint of beer price. Stonegate has received some negative press from the likes of Campaign for Real Ale, whilst a previous YouGov study suggests 71% of UK consumer oppose dynamic ticket pricing for live events.
Sources: The Times, Financial Times
Poor organisation disrupts the Rugby World Cup’s opening round
In the lead up to South Africa vs Scotland on Sunday, bar-staff at Marseille’s Stade Velodrome appeared under-trained and under-equipped. Behind one of the stadium’s largest bars, Asahi – the only alcoholic beverage available – was improperly poured from just 4 taps attached to quarter barrel kegs, leading to a significant amount of wasted beer and queues of over an hour. Similar problems were reported during Argentina vs England in Marseille on Saturday, as well as Ireland vs Romania in Bordeaux.
Sources: PROOF Insight
Strange brews & news
Portuguese roads run red
Two ruptured tanks at Destilaria Levira unleashed a crimson torrent that cascaded down the sloping streets of São Lourenço do Bairro, Portugal. The substantial volume of wine was initially destined for conversion into alcohol as part of the government’s “crisis distillation” initiative. Though the exact cause of the breach remains a mystery, cleanup operations are underway.
Sources: Decanter, BBC News
Investments, acquisition & openings
- Bacardi Limited acquires super premium mezcal brand Illegal Mezcal
- TRG to pay Big Table Group £7.5m to unload leisure division, which includes the Frankie & Benny & Chiquito brands, to their rival
- St Austell acquires The Bath Pub Company’s four sites, taking its managed estate to 43
- Molson Coors strengthens investment in Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s ZOA energy drink brand
- Molson Coors also acquires Blue Run Spirits as part of its ‘Beyond Beer’ strategy
- Rosa’s Thai opens its first Scottish site in Glasgow this week, with an Edinburgh site to follow in October
- Camm & Hooper has opened an event space in London Waterloo
- Indian street food concept Mowgli is expanding into Suffolk
Sources: Drinks International, Restaurant, Propel
Product launches & campaigns
- BrewDog Distilling Co launch their Wonderland Cocktails RTD range in Brewdog bars this week
- Bombay Sapphire & fashion designer Christian Siriano create a couture collection with designs inspired by classic gin cocktails
- DrinkWell launch Lean Brew, a low-calorie, gluten free Pilsner
- Just Eat is trialling carbon labelling with 12 restaurants to drive sustainable food choices
- Brave New Spirits has released a new batch of whiskies as part of its Cask Noir series
- Samuel Gulliver’s has released a new whisky – The Fine Drop – celebrating 20 years since England won the 2003 Rugby World Cup
- The Lost Explorer Mezcal has continued its partnership with member’s club Annabel’s, aiming to inspire action and raise awareness of reforestation in the Amazon rainforest
Sources: Beverage Daily, The Spirits Business, Propel
Surge Pricing
Stonegate, owner of over 4,000 UK pubs, including some of the country’s most well known brands like Slug & Lettuce and Yates bars, have announced that they are rolling out a new ‘dynamic’ surcharge pricing scheme that will see flexible prices at some 800 of their sites across the country. The new system, which some are calling ‘a happy hour in reverse’, will see drinkers charged more at busy times with signs in venues set to inform customers when surge pricing is in place.
Contentious? What do you think?