Glass fragments prompt wine recall
New Zealand wine maker, 3 Stones Wines, is recalling some batches of wine after discovering a packaging fault, which may mean glass fragments are dislodged from the bottle upon opening.
“This is clearly unacceptable and as a precautionary measure and to eliminate the potential risk of public harm we have implemented an immediate and full product recall of the [affected] product batches,” said a statement from the company.
The recalled products are 750ml bottles of 3 Stones Sauvignon Blanc 2014 (batch code L5148), 3 Stones Pinot Gris 2015 (L5148) and Clearwater Cove Pinot Gris 2015 (L5147 and L5148).
The products are sold in supermarkets and liquor retailers in New Zealand and are also distributed overseas. No other products are affected.
SodaStream takes to the streets of New York
SodaStream is running its $2.75m ‘City Blitz’ advertising campaign in the streets of New York, San Francisco and Seattle.
The company, which manufactures and distributes sparkling water makers, will run the campaign until August 15.
Billboards, full bus wraps and hand-painted wall murals feature the slogan ‘Be a Sparkling Water Maker,’ and the campaign also uses a variety of digital banner ads, videos and media.
SodaStream buses are giving people the chance to use and sample SodaStream machines, and night projections feature in busy city areas.
Merger provides stability, say Australian wineries
Australian wine companies Wine Insights and Cumulus Wines have completed a scrip-for-scrip merger, they announced on Tuesday. Based in the state of New South Wales, the new entity has a gross revenue in excess of $20m, producing 400,000 cases of wine over 27 markets.
The combined portfolio includes Climbing (Orange), Rolling (Central Ranges), Moss Bros (Margaret River), The Riddoch Run (Coonawarra) and Beelgara Estate.
Wine Insights’ brands will be produced at Cumulus Wines’ Cudal winery. Existing sales and distribution structures will remain the same.
The merger will help brands align operations to changing market conditions and consumer preferences, and embrace new market opportunities, said executives. The merger also provides operational and financial stability, they added.
Bacardi reduces distillery carbon footprint by 90%
John Dewar & Sons says the introduction of a biomass boiler at its Aberfeldy site in the Scottish Highlands has cut the distillery’s carbon footprint by 90%.
Part of the Bacardi group of companies, John Dewar & Sons produces Dewar’s Blended Scotch whisky. Distilleries are traditionally big users of fossil fuels, but the biomass boiler reduces carbon emissions, says the Aberfeldy site.
John Dewar & Sons employs 300 people across seven Scottish sites.
Coffee and genes
Coffee neither increases nor decreases the risk of lifestyle diseases such as obesity or diabetes, according to researchers in Denmark.
A number of genes are understood to affect the desire for coffee. The scientists say they are the first to investigate the relationship between genes and a lifelong high consumption of coffee.
These coffee genes are not associated with a risk of developing type 2 diabetes or obesity, suggesting that drinking coffee neither causes nor protects against these diseases, concluded researchers.
The study is published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
As the sun goes down
Corona Sunsets, a series of festivals hosted by the Mexican beer brand, is gearing up for the next events in Italy on July 25 and in Ibiza on August 13.
Corona Sunsets was held in Playa del Carmen in Mexico in May, and Weston-Super-Mare in the UK in July. Other festivals will be held in China and Australia.
A UK partnership between digital music service Spotify and the AB InBev brand offered listeners the chance to win tickets to the Ibiza festival, in a competition that ended on July 12.
Visitors to the Spotify Corona Sunsets website can listen to special playlists, listen to music from other Sunset festivals, and discover what songs are trending during sunset hours.
Corona also invites people to #ShareTheSunset on Instagram and Twitter.
For more of this week's top stories, see the related news section below.