January’s top news stories

Starbucks launches Blonde Espresso in US

US-based coffee company Starbucks introduced its new Blonde Espresso in the US market.

Becoming available at more than 8,000 stores across the country, the beverage joined other handcrafted beverages such as Starbucks Signature, Starbucks Caffe Latte, Cappuccino, Flat White, Macchiato and Americano beverages.

Starbucks US Retail president Kris Engskov said:  “Our partners are so passionate about their craft and now they get to help our customers discover and personalise the foundation of the beverage, an espresso that is either bold and rich or smooth and bright.

“We want every experience our customers have with us to be perfect for them.”

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Australian wine exports reached $2bn mark in 2017

A Wine Australia report noted that wine exports in Australia increased in value and volume over a period of 12 months ending December 2017.

Having increased by 15% to A$2.56bn ($2bn), the growth in export value was said to be the highest since 2004. Volume increased by 8% to 811 million litres.

Wine Australia CEO Andreas Clark said: “Growing demand for premium Australian wine, particularly in Northeast Asia, increased the value of bottled wine exports by 17% to $2.1bn, while the average price per litre for bottled wine grew by 3% to a record $5.63.”

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Suntory opened store on Alibaba’s Tmall to sell whisky

Suntory agreed to sell whisky and other spirits in mainland China through Alibaba’s Tmall.com platform.

Nikkei reported that Suntory opened the store on Tsmall.com, through its US unit Beam Suntory.

The store sells products such as Marker’s Mark bourbon, Courvoisier Cognac and Jim Beam. Suntory’s popular Japanese whiskies Hibiki and Yamazaki are also available.

Alongside improving its online presence, the partnership will enable Suntory to sell liquors through Alibaba’s offline outlets RT-Mart and Hema.

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New York Wine and Spirits distributed Bogart Spirits products in New York

US-based New York Wine and Spirits began distributing the full range of Bogart Spirits across metropolitan New York, including all five boroughs of New York City, Long Island and several surrounding counties.

A division of Manhattan Beer Distributors, New York Wine and Spirits distributes Bogart’s gin, whiskey, vodka and rum across the city and nearby counties.

Formed through a partnership between the Humphrey Bogart Estate and ROK Drinks, Bogart products are claimed to be handmade in small batches by artisans at its own craft distillery in California.

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Carlsberg opened new brewery in India

Danish brewer Carlsberg opened a new brewery Karnataka, India.

With an annual capacity of 80 million litres, the new brewery is located at Nanjangud in the city of Mysuru.

Built over a piece of 27-acre land, the facility is Carlsberg’s eighth brewery in the country and the first in Karnataka.

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Fonterra to invest $179m across seven facilities in Australia

Fonterra Australia planned to invest A$165m ($179.4m) across seven of its plants in Victoria and Tasmania.

This investment will boost the plant’s processing capacity by an additional 500 million litres of milk and ensure an annual processing capacity between 2.5 billion litres and 2.7 billion litres.

The dairy company planned to increase its annual milk quantity by 200 million litres by around March this year to meet rising consumer demands.

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Stillhouse expanded distribution in US

US-based alcoholic beverage maker Stillhouse Spirits expanded the presence of its whiskey products across nine states in the country.

The all-natural, gluten-free whiskey is now available for purchase in Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, South Carolina, Upstate New York and Washington.

The whiskey producer entered the US alcoholic beverage market in 2016 by launching Stillhouse Original, a 40% alcohol-by-volume (ABV) whiskey, which is said to have been produced using its proprietary sour mash recipe that yields a mellow flavour.

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Brick Brewing planned to invest in Kitchener brewery

Canada’s Brick Brewing planned to invest in its Kitchener brewery to further enhance its can line capacity.

The C$3.5m ($2.78m) investment will see an installation of new can fillers and a pasteuriser, which is expected to increase annual canning capacity by nearly 400,000 hectoliters (hl).

Brick Brewing chief operating officer Russell Tabata said: “The project installation will be completed in May and we expect to see the upgraded can line operating at full capacity by the end of June.”

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Waitrose to set age limit on sales of high-caffeine energy drinks

UK-based supermarket chain Waitrose is implementing a minimum age limit on sales of high-caffeine energy drinks from 5 March.

This new initiative will see all soft drinks containing more than 150mg of caffeine per litre only sold to customers above 16 years of age. This builds on existing industry labelling guidelines that require these drinks to feature high-caffeine content warnings stating that they are not recommended to be consumed by children.

Waitrose technical and corporate social responsibility director Simon Moore said: “As a responsible retailer, we want to sell these products in line with the labelling guidance.”

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Samuel Adams launched Sam ’76 in US

US-based Boston Beer launched Sam ’76 under its Samuel Adams brand.

Developed at the nano brewery in Boston, Sam ’76 offers tastes of lager and ale.

With 4.7% alcohol-by-volume (ABV), the beverage contains US Cascade, Citra, mosaic and Simcoe hop that bring aromas of tropical citrus.