We are only days away from the start of the FIFA World Cup, one of the biggest events in the sporting calendar, and everyone is trying to get in on the game.

In UK drinks, we have seen wine producers attempt to steal World Cup trade from beer, which is traditionally the drink of choice as we lament yet another drab showing/heroic failure from England's ageing "Golden Generation".

E&J Gallo has signed up Sky Sports presenter Georgie Thompson to push its rose wines during the World Cup, while trade body Wines of South Africa has developed a football-themed logo to highlight South African wines during the event.

Meanwhile, the supermarkets have weighed in with a plethora of discount offers on alcohol (where is the support for a ban on below cost alcohol sales now?). With brewers themselves desperate for a boost in what is a shrinking UK market, we can expect some intense competition off the field as well as on it over the next four weeks.

With this in mind, and without wishing to sound too pessimistic, just-drinks ran a feature last week on what to do if the worst happens and you have to recall a product during the tournament.

We've got a couple more World Cup-related features coming up this week, so keep your eyes peeled.

Last week, meanwhile, I was up in Scotland as Pernod Ricard's The Glenlivet Scotch whisky brand opened its GBP10m (US$14.5m) distillery extension. Not only was the trip fruitful as I met up with many of my peers for the first time in a while, but I also got to rub shoulders with/gaze at the aura of royalty, with HRH the Prince of Wales doing the honours.

Best of all, however, I got some face-time with the CEO of Pernod's Chivas Brothers' unit, Christian Porta.

The results of our one-to-one will appear as this month's just-drinks interview, which is coming soon.

Until next time...

Olly Wehring
Managing Editor
Web: http://www.just-drinks.com
Email: editor@just-drinks.com
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