Latest news with #DartmoorBrewery
BBC News
30-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
South West drink producers embrace low-alcohol revolution
Drink producers across the South West are benefiting from a boost in sales of alcohol-free and no-alcohol products are the fastest-growing category across the UK, according to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA).Tarquin's Cornish Gin, in Wadebridge, now sells 10,000 bottles of zero-alcohol gin a year - about 2% of their annual overall Brewery, in Princetown, Devon, said it was investing in equipment to brew alcohol-free beer. 'Younger generation' The BBPA said the industry had adapted to changing habits with more than 425,000 bulk barrels of no and low-alcoholic beer, equivalent to 120 million pints, sold in is up 14% on 2022, when more than 370,000 bulk barrels were no and low-alcohol category continues to grow at a rapid rate year-on-year with 86% of pubs now serving a no and low-alcohol option, according to the BBPA. Ruth Huxley, managing director of the Great Cornish Food Store in Truro, said: "It is a real burgeoning part of the drinks industry, for sure."There is a lot of interest in drinking less alcohol, particularly for the younger generation."The industry has reacted and is producing more variety and a better quality of product."We have to respond to market demands." Southwestern Distillery, which makes Tarquin's Gin, launched a zero-alcohol gin-style drink last year."We sold 10,000 bottles last year... so it's a small but rapidly growing part of the business," said Sean Blackburn, strategic growth manager for Southwestern Distillery."It took us three years to perfect the recipe and there were certainly plenty of mistakes."Alcohol has a taste to it [that is] difficult to mimic but we are really proud of the drink."If you look to places like Germany and The Netherlands their low-alcohol beers and sprits are around 10% of the market so it looks like there's going to be a lot of growth." Steve Post, sales manager at Dartmoor Brewery, said the company was currently using a third-party company to brew its zero-alcohol product."But we are investing a lot of money into getting the equipment to make it here," he said."A few years ago the low-alcohol products didn't exist but now they are much better."I've done several blind tastings with people and most can't tell the difference between the zero-alcohol product and the real beer."
BBC News
04-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Beauty of countryside celebrated on Devon's day
"The best thing about Devon is the countryside. The views are spectacular."People from across Devon have spoken of their affection for the county's rich natural beauty as part of a day celebrating all that is good about this part of the Day, also known as St Petroc's Day, is a national day of recognition celebrated annually on 4 June since 2016. Ian Cobham, the head brewer and managing director at Dartmoor Brewery, said the county had a special place in the lives of many and nature was its biggest selling point. "I live on the moors and the views are pretty special," he said."As you drive through the South Hams, with the rolling hills and the farmland, it's just gorgeous." Mike Coombes, from The Bedford Hotel in Tavistock, the site which is claimed to be birthplace of the Devonshire cream tea, said his favourite thing about the county was its contrasts from the countryside to the coast."We talk to our guests who come and stay with us with us here and for them it's about the diversity of the offering," he said."They start with enjoying Tavistock, which is a quintessential Devon market town."We have all of Dartmoor and its fantastic scenery right on the doorstep, and then Devon's coast whether it's the north coast of the south coast."We also have Devon's great ocean city of Plymouth just a stone's throw away from us and the Tamar Valley Area of Natural Beauty just down the road." Discussing the legend of the cream tea's invention, Mr Coombes said: "Where the hotel is situated was the original site of Tavistock of Benedictine Abbey."So the story goes when the Benedictine Abbey was being restored around 997 AD the monks of Tavistock's Benedictine Abbey rewarded the labourers who were doing the restoration with bread, clotted cream and strawberry preserve."So it doesn't take a huge jump of the imagination to say effectively what they were getting was a cream tea, and that's exactly what we've been serving on this site since the hotel started in 1822." Sally Thomson, proprietor at The Highwayman Inn, Okehampton, which purports to be Britain's most unusual pub, also named Dartmoor as being a major draw for Thomson, whose family have worked the business since 1959, said of the national park: "It has so many legends. It's so atmospheric."But from a professional perspective, I think Devon has some great little pubs."Devon is filled with little gems, some little quirky places and some that offer really special things. "We have a lot to offer, here in Devon, but we're very understated so you have to discover it, as we don't throw it in your face." Rob Braddick, who owns a variety of tourism businesses in Westward Ho!, said it was an area where family-run firms were valued by residents."I think the community is really nice," he said. "Everybody gets on really well, it's full of independent shops and restaurants which is really nice. "It's nice to see the families working in the businesses instead of the big corporate boys."He also agreed nature was at the core of the county's offering."I love being on the beach, we live just a few hundred yards from the beach," he said."I very much love the fresh air and the walking."
