just-drinks authors and correspondents

Articles by Joe Bates

Beam Suntory’s The Chita Japanese single grain whisky - Product Launch 13 May 2016

Responding to a significant increase in demand for Japanese whisky in duty-free markets worldwide, Beam Suntory has released the travel-retail exclusive The Chita.

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Diageo's Guinness The 1798 Double Extra Stout - Product Launch 31 March 2016

Diageo has rolled out another extension of its Guinness beer brand. The 1798 Double Extra Stout is a limited-edition batch Guinness that has been matured in oak vats for 18 months and is packaged in a 75cl corked and caged bottle.

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Has the Travel Retail bubble burst? - Comment 23 February 2016

These are undoubtedly turbulent times for the Global Travel Retail business. An industry notoriously susceptible to external shocks has been tossed around like a vintage bi-plane flying through a tropical typhoon. The decline in spend among Chinese travellers, the dramatic drop in the value of the Russian Ruble, the sclerotic Eurozone economies, the strong US Dollar and its impact on the spending power of Latin America travellers are just some of the headwinds blowing Travel Retail off course.

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Tax Free World Association World Exhibition 2015 - Preview 15 October 2015

As over 100 beer, spirits and wine firms head to flood-hit Cannes this weekend for the Tax Free World Association's World Exhibition - the biggest event in the Travel Retail industry’s calendar - they can look back on a tumultuous year. On the one hand, the number of international travellers continues to rise worldwide. Yet, a growing number of destabilising factors have hit the Travel Retail sector hard in recent times, jeopardising a niche, but high-profile business that, according to The IWSR, was worth in the region of US$9bn last year.

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Product Launch - Moet Hennessy's James Hennessy 9 September 2015

James Hennessy is the first travel-retail exclusive Hennessy expression since the release of Hennessy Privé in 2009.

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Preview - Tax Free World Association Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference 7 May 2015

Ahead of next week's TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference in Singapore, which starts on Sunday, Joe Bates surveys the Travel Retail landscape in the region.

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Hype Energy Drinks strikes Formula One sponsorship deal 16 March 2015

Hype Energy Drinks has signed a sponsorship deal with the Sahara Force India Formula One motor racing team for the 2015 race calendar.

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Gluten-free brewer to launch in Scotland 15 December 2014

A brewery which claims to the be the UK's first to produce only gluten-free beers is due to open in Edinburgh next year.

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Preview - Tax Free World Association World Exhibition 2014 23 October 2014

There should be a celebratory atmosphere in Cannes when this year’s TFWA World Exhibition kicks off on Sunday (26 October). After all, it’s the trade show’s 30th anniversary this year and organiser TFWA is putting on a number of events to mark the occasion, most notably a mass Charity Run along the Cannes Croisette.

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Moët Hennessy unveils first Travel Retail outlet 17 October 2014

Moët Hennessy has opened its first permanent airport store, at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, in collaboration with Aéroports de Paris and French duty-free operator Ls Travel Retail.