Phipps

Phipps and Rioja Wine UK are taking the 100km of Diversity trade tasting to Edinburgh! Trade members are invited to travel through the three zones of Rioja in a walkaround tasting and attend seminars hosted by renowned Rioja wine experts. Tuesday October 15 from 11:00am to 5.00pm at Edinburgh’s five-star hotel, The Balmoral. Register here and the Rioja Wine UK team will be in touch to confirm your place: https://shorturl.at/DgvNq Discover the vast variety of styles coming out of Rioja and how the landscape has influenced the profiles of the wines, from modern reds to classic Gran Reservas, fresh and barrel-aged whites, elegant rosados and sparkling Riojas. Both imported Rioja wines and those seeking representation will be showcased at the event. Apply to attend one of two exclusive seminars. “Beyond the Classics” with Sarah Jane Evans MW will delve into the latest trends in the region, providing the opportunity to sample newer categories and styles. “How to create the ultimate Rioja wine list” will be an on-trade focused seminar with award-winning sommelier Stuart Skea, featuring an exciting line up of renowned classic and more innovative offerings.

The 13th edition of 31 Days of German Riesling is well underway!    Phipps has been working with Wines of Germany on a multi-channel integrated campaign for over 25 years and keeping ideas fresh has always been top of the agenda. Over the years, one of our key challenges has been to get German wines more widely understood by consumers. Wine experts, sommeliers and the wine trade love German wines, in particular German Riesling, with a cult-like ferocity but how could we get consumers feeling the same way?    Our answer: 31 Days of German Riesling. Find out more about the campaign over the years over at Creative Brief.   https://lnkd.in/eCeZyZEb

Phipps MD and The Drinks Trust Trustee, Nicky Forrest was invited to guest edit the latest The Drinks Trust newsletter where she interviews Wine & Spirit Education Trust CEO Michelle Brampton. Nicky said, "I wanted to talk to Michelle because she and I are working closely together, and with Miles Beale at the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, on a DEI initiative for the drinks industry called Drinks United which is all about helping to make the industry a more inclusive, diverse and safer place to work and this seemed like a great opportunity to talk about it.” In the interview, they discuss Michelle's early career and how it prepared her for her current role at the Drinks United initiative, which centres around creating a more equitable and diverse drinks industry and the challenges and opportunities she sees within the industry:   “One of the reasons I took the role at WSET was I could see the part that it could play in shaping the future of the drinks industry. WSET has a very unique and neutral position in the trade; which means that it can put aside any political and commercial issues and connect with anybody. One of the things that I'm most passionate about is connecting people or organisations for a better outcome - driving conversation and collaboration to make a difference and it’s here WSET can play a pivotal role and create opportunities on a broad scale.”   Read the full piece here: https://lnkd.in/ePCbJF5p

Earlier this week, Phipps attended Queena Wong Curious Vines Panel Discussion ‘Spain influenced by pioneering women’, a very inspiring evening hearing from talented and passionate women in the food and drink industry about their trailblazing careers and the positive impacts they have had on the trade. All the speakers found common ground in the authenticity and quality of Spanish food and wine, something we continue to showcase through our Rioja Wine UK and Ireland campaigns. The diversity of Spanish food and wine also came up as a consistent theme both from a culinary and viticultural perspective marking it out as one of the world’s top gastronomic nations. We’ll drink to that! 

Last week, Phipps headed to TikTok HQ for its Grow with TikTok summit to enhance our strategic insights for leveraging the platform.   Here are our key takeaways…   1. Diverse audience: TikTok's audience isn't limited to Gen Z. Over 51% of users are over 25, including high-earners and professionals with significant spending power   2. Tailored content: Simply repurposing Instagram content won't suffice. Since 50% of TikTok users aren't on Instagram, they seek content that aligns with TikTok's unique style and vibe.   3. Informative engagement: TikTok isn't just about entertaining visuals. With 73% of Gen Z more likely to use TikTok as a search engine than any other platform, leverage this by creating engaging and informative content for your clients.

Following its seminar at LWF, ‘Creating change: Improving safeguarding and equity in the drinks industry’, an industry initiative spearheaded by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, The Drinks Trust and the The Wine and Spirit Trade Association, to create an inclusive and equitable UK drinks industry, announced an appeal for funding to support the initiative in its early stages.  Miles Beale, CEO, WSTA said, ‘What we are collectively trying to do is to create an accountable drinks industry that is equitable, diverse, inclusive and safe.  We will shortly appoint an expert Advisory Council to guide the Programme Board and to support the right direction of travel for our shared initiative. Council members will be vital to offering support, expertise and urgency, as well as representing communities across the drinks industry. ’  Speakers at the seminar were vocal in their support and need for the initiative. Sofia Gassne, Head of HR, Hawksmoor urged the industry to, ‘wake up and take responsibility to make the industry a better place to work’.  This was echoed by Lorraine Copes, Found & CEO, Be Inclusive Hospitality who said, ‘You all have power, and you all have influence and if you choose to do nothing you are complicit with the problem that you are trying to address.’ Gary Keller, Wine & Drinks Expertise, Molson Coors spoke about being able to be your ‘authentic self’ in the workplace and how the industry needed to strive to be inclusive for all.  Queena Wong, Founder, Curious Vines spoke passionately about the need for male leaders to come on board with helping create a safer working space, ‘things are changing and we need to make leaders look forward to the future and change things for the next generation; we all need to be authentic in our commitment to EDI.’  Beale added, ‘We are now at the stage where we are ready to address the industry and appeal for funding to make sure that we can resource our efforts fully and deliver the first stage of the programme.’  If any company is interested in donating funding to the programme please contact [email protected]

Congratulations to Phipps’ Account Director, Lorna Evans, who has been recognised by Harpers Wine & Spirit as one of the top-ranking members of the trade aged under 30 for 2024. The list, which highlights some of the key contributions from up-and-coming talent within the drinks industry, recognises Lorna’s exceptional work for Phipps’ clients, including Rioja Wine, International Wine Challenge and Jersey Royals. “In my three years at Phipps, I have loved every moment of getting stuck into the drinks industry. I have been lucky enough to work with clients across all sectors of the trade, host events, lead campaigns and learn lots. I’m so proud to have my achievements recognised in Harpers’ 30 Under 30 list.” The full ’30 Under 30’ list is available to view on the Harpers Wine & Spirit Magazine website: https://lnkd.in/eN-ex-2R

Creating change: Improving safeguarding and equity in the drinks industry The WSTA, The Drinks Trust and the WSET are currently coordinating an industry response to the issues identified regarding safeguarding and equity for those working in drinks. The purpose of this initiative is to create an inclusive and equitable UK drinks industry, where everyone feels welcome, safe and supported. We invite you to join this session, where we will deliver an update on the progress of this programme to date and be joined by some leading figures from the world of drinks and hospitality, who will share their stories, focusing on the issues they have identified and also the initiatives that they have spearheading to create positive change. The session will conclude by sharing details of how you can get involved with this important industry-wide initiative. Wine & Spirit Education Trust The Drinks Trust Wine and Spirit Trade Association https://lnkd.in/dMuxcdDE

Thank you to the buyers, sommeliers, media and wine educators who attended Wines of Germany’s Big G Trade Tasting this week! Over 100 trade guests joined producers and importers to taste some of the best contemporary German wines being made in Germany’s 13 winegrowing regions.   With particular focuses on Sekt, lighter styles, dry Riesling and the Pinot varieties, Big G was a fascinating look into the current viticultural scene in Germany. Thank you to Isa Bal MS and Peter McCombie for sharing your expertise in two highly engaging masterclasses, and to Shane Jones DipWSET for a brilliant walk around tasting for WSET educators.

Very happy to be Wine & Spirit Education Trust awards last night with these winners Alex Preston and Nine Brousse. Congrats to all graduates. Phipps will have a few of its team graduating next year!