Category Archives: Food & drink industry

Thieves make off with €5m haul from prestigious Italian winery

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Gang breaks into cellar of Marchesi Antinori in Cortona and loads two trucks with 30,000 bottles before getaway

Thousands of bottles of wine worth €5m (£4.2m) have been stolen from a prestigious winery in Tuscany in what is thought to be the biggest heist of its kind in Italy.

A gang of at least seven masked individuals broke into the cellar of Marchesi Antinori, a family-owned winery dating back to the late 1300s, in Cortona after shutting off the alarms and surveillance cameras before using company forklifts to load two large trucks with 30,000 bottles of wine and making off.

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Gatorade maker recalls 122,000 cases of popular sports drink across 37 US states

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PepsiCo initiated class II recall of 28oz bottles last month over ‘undeclared’ yellow dyes, FDA notice says

About 122,000 cases of the popular sports drink Gatorade have been voluntarily recalled across 37 US states due to their having “undeclared” food dye, according to an official federal notice.

The varieties of the drink involved in the notice include 28oz bottles of Gatorade Lemon Lime, Lime Zero, Orange and Gatorade Orange Zero, the notice said. Gatorade’s manufacturer – the soda giant PepsiCo – initiated its recall on 25 September, said the advisory, which was posted on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s website.

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Give BrewDog ‘second chance’ says new owner as it invests £50m

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US cannabis and drinks firm Tilray, which took over in March, says it will improve beers, pubs and working conditions

BrewDog’s new owner has urged drinkers to give the ailing brand “a second chance” as it invests more than £50m in improving the company’s beers, pubs and working conditions.

The US cannabis and drinks company Tilray bought BrewDog for £33m in March this year, after the company collapsed into administration after five years of losses and a series of controversies relating to the treatment of workers under the founder James Watt.

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UK food and drink trade deficit largest since 2000 at £21bn

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Industry leaders call on government to protect homegrown produce in the interest of national security

The gap between Britain’s food and drink exports and imports has neared its highest this century, as a combination of Brexit, war in the Middle East and US tariffs dented deliveries overseas while imports soared.

The UK’s food and drink trade deficit has risen to more than £21bn – the largest since 2000 – in what industry leaders said was a “wake-up call” for the government to protect homegrown produce in the interest of national security.

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French winemakers forecast 30-year low harvest after severe drought and heat

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Estimates suggest drop in production with vineyards also concerned ‘smoke taint’ from wildfires may affect quality

French vineyards hit by severe drought and heatwaves are expected to report a 30-year low in wine production after the country’s hottest ever recorded summer, according to the agriculture ministry.

Initial estimates suggest winemakers will produce just under 34m hectolitres from this year’s harvest: a drop of 6% on last year, and 17% less than ‌the 2021-2025 average.

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Deadly escalation in Black Sea attacks prompts fears of even higher food prices

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Russian and Ukrainian strikes in July killed more crew than in whole war to that month, preventing grain exports

A summer of hostilities in the Black Sea proved deadly for seafarers, as Russia and Ukraine attacked each other’s ships and port infrastructure, preventing vital grain exports and prompting concerns that the conflict will push global food prices even higher.

More crew were killed in the Black Sea in July than during the entirety of the war before that month as the conflict has intensified, making the body of water the most dangerous in the world for commercial shipping. This is despite the conflict between the US and Iran, with vessels still being targeted in the strait of Hormuz, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

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Bhutan hosts first ‘conscious food summit’ amid threats to global supplies

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Organisers say people must revive spiritual relationship with food amid double threat of climate crisis and conflict

Mending the broken food system under the threat of climate-driven weather extremes will require more than economic fixes and intensive agriculture, according to the organisers of a pioneering summit this week, who say the world must revive its spiritual relationship with food.

Delegates from more than 60 countries and the UN will gather for the next five days in Paro in the tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan for the world’s first “conscious food summit”, which will bring together governments and farmers, mindfulness experts and yoga therapists.

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Retail sales in Great Britain fall despite heatwave increasing food and drink demand

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Volume of goods sold in stores and online dropped 0.5% in July, ONS says

Retail sales across Great Britain weakened last month despite the men’s football World Cup and record temperatures boosting the demand for food and drink.

The Office for National Statistics said the volume of goods sold in stores and online fell 0.5% in July. That is down from 0.7% rise in June – revised down from initial estimates of 1% – and a 1.3% rise in May.

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UK relies on heat-stressed countries for fruit and veg it could grow itself – report

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Food Foundation sounds alarm over supply risks and price shocks as about 40% of Britain’s food is imported

The UK is vulnerable to food price shocks because of its dependence on imports of fruit and vegetable from countries even more exposed to the climate crisis, researchers say.

Much of Britain has sweltered under a record five heatwaves this year and endured drought and wildfires, with the hot, dry conditions damaging crops and reducing yields of domestic produce.

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European farmers face ‘unprecedented crisis’ after successive heatwaves

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Vegetable and grain growers call for urgent action, warning of ‘catastrophic’ harvests due to continent-wide drought

Successive intense heatwaves and an increasingly severe, continent-wide drought have left many of Europe’s farmers in an “unprecedented” crisis, with vegetable and grain growers in particular warning of “catastrophic” harvests.

French vegetable production is down by “a very significant extent” compared with previous years, French growers have said, with shortfalls put at 25% for courgettes, 35% for lettuces, 40% for peas, 60% for broccoli and 50% to 100% for artichokes.

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European farmers face ‘unprecedented crisis’ after successive heatwaves

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Vegetable and grain growers call for urgent action, warning of ‘catastrophic’ harvests due to continent-wide drought

Successive intense heatwaves and an increasingly severe, continent-wide drought have left many of Europe’s farmers in an “unprecedented” crisis, with vegetable and grain growers in particular warning of “catastrophic” harvests.

French vegetable production is down by “a very significant extent” compared with previous years, French growers have said, with shortfalls put at 25% for courgettes, 35% for lettuces, 40% for peas, 60% for broccoli and 50% to 100% for artichokes.

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‘It is British life’: No 10 vows to stop councils trying to limit standing in pubs

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Westminster council has recommended banning ‘vertical drinking’ or ordering at the bar in new draft licensing policy

No 10 has vowed to confiscate powers from local councils which try to restrict customers from standing up while drinking in pubs or ordering at the bar.

It comes after the Guardian revealed on Thursday that Westminster council in central London recommended not allowing “vertical drinking” or ordering at the bar in its new draft licensing policy.

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Starbucks Korea raided by police after ‘Tank Day’ campaign sparks public outrage

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Coffee chain has faced backlash over marketing promotion tied to anniversary of Gwangju massacre

South Korean police have raided the headquarters of Starbucks Korea as part of an investigation into a marketing campaign accused of trivialising the country’s 1980s pro-democracy movement.

Investigators searched the building in southern Seoul on Tuesday, police said on Wednesday. No further details were released, although South Korean media reported that officers also searched the homes of the Starbucks Korea executives.

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Price of olive oil expected to rise again as European crops feel the heat

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Farmers warn impact of high temperatures, drought and wildfires on range of foodstuffs means costs will increase

Farmers across Europe are warning of a slump in food production and rising prices as crops from maize to salads suffer as a result of extreme heat, drought and wildfires.

Olive groves have also been hit as the climate crisis drives temperatures across the continent to fresh record highs, meaning the cost of olive oil – already at elevated levels – is expected to start rising again.

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Was Florentine friars’ fatigue-fighting elixir a precursor to Coca-Cola?

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Document believed to be from 19th century details recipe using Bolivian coca leaves, kola nuts and wine

An Italian friar has unearthed a document from the pharmacy archives of an ancient convent in Florence describing a medicinal potion made from Bolivian coca leaves and kola nuts, prompting suggestions it could have been a precursor to the famous US soft drink, Coca-Cola.

Father Manuel Russo, rector of the San Marco convent, said he stumbled across the yellowed document, a sort-of promotional flyer, while sorting out the archives.

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Cottage pie and glass of red, anyone? Britons shun salad despite heat in ‘reverse comfort eating’

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Nostalgic foods like toad-in-the-hole also in demand at Waitrose as people pivot towards familiarity amid climatic and political upheaval

Forget a crisp salad and glass of chilled rosé. Enervated Britons are seemingly more likely to crave a rich cottage pie and a robust red in heatwaves.

In a trend termed “reverse comfort eating”, Waitrose’s cottage pie sales have soared 110% in the last month and South African red wine is up 68% compared with the same period last year. The surprise spike in demand for winter comfort foods also includes retro chicken, bacon and leek pie (up 41%), chicken korma (up 67%) and chicken and ham gratin (68%).

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Berry tough: Ribena seeks to make hardier blackcurrants to beat extreme weather

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£200,000 investment comes after harvests in Britain hit by wet winter, spring frost and hail, then heatwaves

The owner of Ribena is to invest £200,000 in helping blackcurrant bushes withstand stress after extreme weather put a squeeze on this year’s UK harvest.

That harvest is now under way in the berry’s main growing regions including East Anglia, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Kent and Scotland. It is expected to be about 10% below the average of 10,000 tonnes, as the climate crisis drives extreme weather across Britain and elsewhere.

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‘How’s this joker got my details?’: BrewDog founder faces complaints over emails to ‘equity punks’

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Exclusive: Watchdog asked to look into how James Watt got data of ex-crowdfunders he invited to join buy-back bid

James Watt, the BrewDog founder who sold the debt-laden “punk” brewer earlier this year, is the subject of complaints to the UK’s data privacy watchdog linked to his surprise bid to buy the company back, the Guardian has learned.

BrewDog’s brand, intellectual property, UK breweries and 11 bars were sold to the US cannabis and drinks firm Tilray in March for £33m, in a deal that rendered the shares of more than 200,000 crowdfunding investors worthless.

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Weight-loss drug users save more than £400 a year on food as take-up triples

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Research suggests households that include a GLP-1 user collectively spent £780m less on grocery bills

Weight-loss drugs are saving users’ households more than £400 a year on grocery bills, according to a survey, which found use of GLP-1s has nearly tripled in the past two years to 1.9 million adults.

More than 6.3% of households in Great Britain now include at least one GLP-1 user, according to the research by Worldpanel by Numerator. This marks a sharp rise from 4.1% of households in 2025 and 2.3% in 2024.

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‘Immediate national priority’: ministers accused of complacency over UK food supply

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Cold storage and logistics body warns food supplies at risk from fuel shortages, cyber attacks and extreme weather

Ministers have been accused of being complacent about the risks to vital supplies of food into the UK amid concerns over fuel shortages, cyber attacks and extreme weather.

The trade body for cold storage and logistics has urged the government to make potential disruption to the UK’s food system an “immediate national priority”.

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