The Tavern Tatler

NEWS FOR THE LIQUOR TRADE Re-affirming its pedigree as a producer of excellent wines at affordable prices, Robertson Winery’s recent successes at various “Best Value” wine awards, namely the 2019 Gold Wine Awards, Winemag. co.za’s Best Value Shiraz Tasting, and the 2018/19 Ultra Value Wine Challenge have once again validated Robertson Winery’s reputation for creating exceptional wines that over-deliver in their respective price categories. These successes include: • 2019 Gold Wine Awards: Five Gold medals for: Robertson Winery Chenin Blanc 2019, Sauvignon Blanc 2018. Chardonnay 2018, Beaukett 2018 and Winery. Achieving these accolades across different wine styles is testament to the quality grapes grown by our producers and the dedication of our team. At Robertson Winery we pride ourselves on consistently delivering quality underpinned by great value, on being the go-to cellar for affordable quality, which of course is very pertinent in today’s tough economic times where the key consumer phrase is ‘value for money’”. ROBERTSON WINERY SHINES AT RECENT “BEST VALUE” WINE AWARDS Merlot 2018. • Winemag.co.za’s Best Value Shiraz Tasting: Robertson Winery Shiraz 2018 was placed in the Top 5 and joint second with 89 points. • 2018/19 Ultra Value Wine Challenge: Robertson Winery Beaukett 2018 was placed in the Top 14 highest-scoring wines with 95 points. “We are immensely proud of this fantastic line-up of awards”, says Ankia Niemann, Head of Marketing and Sales at Robertson 2019 GOLD WINE AWARDS 2019 The Gold Wine Awards is a consumerjudged competition that awards excellent wines, at a price of less than R130 to the consumer, with Gold medals. More than 90% of all wines produced in South Africa fall in this price category and the standard of the winning wines was beyond a doubt outstanding, according to the panel. Jack Daniel’s is launching its inaugural Bartending Career and Mentorship Programme to provide South African bartenders with the opportunity to grow their careers and define their craft through a series of three Tennessee Campus events taking place in Durban, Cape Town and Joburg from March 2020. Back in the 1860s Dan Call, alongside master distiller Nearest Green, taught a young Jasper ‘Jack’ Daniel the secrets of distilling Tennessee whiskey. With their mentorship and Jack’s passion for craft, he went on to build a thriving whiskey enterprise and one of the world’s biggest whiskey brands still enjoyed in ‘dive bars’ and ‘fine establishments’ around the world today. Jack’s legacy continues to live on in every bottle of his smooth sippin’ Tennessee whiskey, and now the Distiller from Jack Daniel’s in Tennessee will be giving local bartenders the chance to define their own path through mentorship, just like Jack did all those years ago. Join Jack Daniel’s and a host of local and international speakers at the South African Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Campus events where attendees will receive: • Career and business training • A platform to connect with industry experts and peers • Mentorship from the Jack Daniel’s distiller from Tennessee • Opportunity to master their craft and unique style through mixology • Opportunity to compete to win an experience of a lifetime with Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Calling. Registration opens in January 2020 via www.Jackdaniels.com with events taking place in Durban on 9 March, Cape Town on 16 March and Joburg on 17 March 2020. In April 2020, graduates are invited to compete using the knowledge and skills learned during Tennessee Campus to become number 1 with Old No 7. They will also stand a chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime experience in Lynchburg. For more information on Jack Daniel’s including Tennessee Campus, please visit www.jackdaniels.com or follow on Facebook , Instagram and Twitter for updates. JACK DANIEL’S LAUNCHES TENNESSEE CAMPUS IN SA

SAB ROLLS OUT SOUTH AFRICA’S FIRST ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY LABELS ON BEER PRODUCTS

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SAB is one of the only businesses in the world - and the first in South Africa - to introduce environmentally friendly Core Linerless Solutions labels for its product packaging. The labels, which have no release liner, were developed in partnership with Ritrama, and completely suppress the waste of the release liner of older self-adhesive labels. Ritrama, an Italian private multinational with a South African-based business, is considered a market leader in design, distribution and manufacture of self-adhesive products. The new Core Linerless Solutions labels will help reduce the group’s impact on the environment by 57 tonnes a year. The perforated Core Linerless Solution label is directly applied to a bottle without the need to remove the release liner (process waste) as is the case in ordinary less environmentally friendly labels used on many products in the market. SAB’s flavoured beer, Flying Fish, was selected as the first to trial the new innovative linerless label. Because it is a fast -moving brand, the business will be able to identify any glitches and correct these in the quickest possible time. After labels for Flying Fish have been changed over to the new system, SAB will proceed with converting the rest of its product range. “Innovation with societal benefits is at the heart of much that we do at SAB and our global parent company, AB InBev. We are conscious that we have an impact on the environment and that there is an obligation on our part to reduce this for the sustainability of society and for the business as the two are integrally linked. Our consumers can be assured that when they enjoy our products there will be less waste and less impact on their surrounds,” says Alexander Talbot, ZITEC director at SAB.

The innovation was prototyped and trialled over a period to ensure SAB had a product that it was confident could bring environmental benefit to the market.

The project began in 2017 and moved into pilot phase in the fourth quarter of 2018. Full-scale production started in April 2019, and a trade test period has been completed, with bottles with Core Linerless Solutions labels successfully sold through retailers. Bottle front labels will be next to be converted and SAB expects to make this change in the next 24 months. The new labels have required SAB to make some upgrades to its production labelling line. The new machine heads ILTI can apply 36 000 labels per hour and, as the reel can carry a double number of labels thanks to the reduced thickness, there are fewer reel replenishments, and therefore less disruption to the production process. The new labelling technology provides an opportunity for South African suppliers to adopt the new technology, creating jobs and increasing economies of scale. Ritrama product manager for Core Linerless, Sergio Veneziani, says, “This was an exciting cross-functional team process of value innovation development to undertake in partnership with SAB. It gave us the opportunity to stretch our world-class capabilities even further. We look forward to rolling this technology out even further for the benefit of the local environment and broader society.”