The FWD has been praised for persuading the Chancellor to include new measures in the Budget to stamp down on duty fraud.

The recovery of the UK's largest cash and carry business hit a new landmark last week when it returned to sales growth.

Bestway Cash & Carry group has stepped up its promotion activity for its Cellar Estates range of own label wines for the spring and summer sales period with a tasting initiative called the "Take One To Taste" campaign.

Independent retailer Lesley Brown has gone right to the top for help with her National Independents' Week celebrations.

Londis is encouraging its retailers to be 'local and proud of it' by celebrating National Independents' Week (NIW).

Hancocks has developed a range of 10 Halal jelly sweets.

Whyte & Mackay has set up a new 70-strong national sales force including a team of six dedicated to the cash and carry sector.

The Today's Group has implemented changes to its Group 1 structure, which sees the dissolution of the existing symbol, cash and carry and delivered sub groups - the first change to the group's trading configuration since it refocused its strategy five years ago.

Budgens has rationalised and re-launched its own label British cheese to reflect 'Good, Better, Best' ranging.

Drinksummit '07 will take place at The Oxford Belfry on June 4-5. Launched 16 years ago, Drinksummit has become the premier event for wholesalers and suppliers involved in the drinks business.

Coors Brewers is launching a new campaign for Carling C2, its 2% alcohol lager that was launched last year.

Woodward Foodservice has received two accreditations from the Seafish Authority and the British Retail Consortium for its fresh fish processing unit in the West Midlands.

The Nestlé Rowntree Manager of the Month Award for April is awarded to Tony Iannotti, company director for Iannotti Bros Ltd based in Ayr. Iannotti Bros was founded 40 years ago by Iannotti's father and uncle. He now runs the business with cousin Roberto Iannotti and today it is a successful cash and carry and delivered wholesale operation and a member of the Sugro buying group.

Bestway Cash & Carry group opened its 50th depot last month in Enfield north London.

Nescafé Collection is embarking on a £2.7m campaign, which includes repeating its Classic FM partnership for a second year.

The Chancellor's annual Budget always contains a lot more detail than is apparent at first sight. This year even the best media commentators took a day or so to work out how Gordon Brown had conjured up a 2% tax rate cut that will cost the Exchequer practically nothing. But, buried even further down in the small print was some very welcome news for wholesalers. This was an announcement in the Budget Report that new measures are being put in place to stem one aspect of duty fraud in the UK alcohol market by tightening up the verification of claims for drawback of excise duty.

Changes implemented by Diageo have helped its customers in the wholesale channel to outperform the overall business, according to the director responsible for the channel.

Martin Higson has been appointed operations director of Casper.

One of the best known figures on the supplier side of the wholesale industry, PepsiCo UK wholesale director Andy Thompson, has left after 16 years with the company.

Confex, the national wholesale trading group, has appointed Chris Wootton as business development manager.

Mohammed Gullistan is the manager of Bestway's newest depot, its 50th, which opened last month in Enfield, north London.

? Job title: senior buyer

== April ==

George Kirkpatrick of James Wilson in Orkney won the Today's Life President Award at the Today's Group annual Member and Supplier Awards' Dinner last month.

The Nestlé Toque d'Or competition for catering students is down to the four finalist teams for the 2007 championship.

Landmark Wholesale's Hot House project won the prize for Wholesaler Business Initiative at the 2007 Top Shop awards, and it was presented to retail controller Raj Krishan.

CATALYST. If the energetic lobby for commercial justice now being powered by the wholesaler/c-store and newsagent lobby does not bring a result at the Competition Commission, what next?

Sanderson, the software solutions provider to delivered wholesale and cash and carry industries, has won a contract to supply its Swords solution to Dadibhais Bradford.

Utopia, a tropical fruit importer, has installed a fleet of Atlet lift trucks and is in the process of adding two more pedestrian pallet trucks to the fleet.

Yearsley Group, cold storage, distribution and frozen food wholesaler, is switching the batteries on its entire lift truck fleet to the Hawker brand.

Marsden The Weighing Company, has developed a Fork Pallet Scale to help efficiency in the warehouse.

On June lst more than six million readers of the Daily Mirror and the Daily Record (Scotland) will see a feature containing money-off coupons on 12 of the biggest brands in the UK food and drinks marketplace.

Balwinder Bhasin took over Corner Stores, in Stoke-on-Trent, just eight weeks before calling the Blueprint team in. Having inherited from the previous owner a poorly displayed alcohol section with no clear layout or use of chilled cabinets, Balwinder's wholesaler Whitalls Wines put him on to the Blueprint to help turn the section around.

Gaj Grewal's Londis convenience store in Goole, Yorkshire, has seen an instant uplift in his beer sales following the advice and re-merchandising from the Take Home Blueprint team. In just over four weeks since he had the Blueprint team in, sales in core brands such as Budweiser, Guinness Original and 1664, which were typically slow for Gaj, have exceeded expectations, in some cases doubling what he was selling previously.

The other day I heard that a small niche manufacturer of healthy snack bars had got listings in two major supermarket chains but had failed to get a listing at a contract caterer because there would be little demand for the product. The next day, I picked up a trade magazine for retail and read no fewer than 20 articles or advertisements for healthy or healthier-for-you foods, including ones for bread, cheese, biscuits, soft drinks, breakfast oats, milk, yoghurts, snacks - healthier confectionery (Maltesers now down to 190 calories per pack) - even going as far as 'healthier-for-your-dog' pet food.

Young's, the supplier of seafood to the foodservice industry, is now offering its Battered and Breaded Premier Fillets in sizes ranging from small to jumbo.

Heinz Foodservice is giving caterers the chance to win up to £1,000 on special Winning Combination promotional packs of Heinz Tomato Ketchup and HP Brown Sauce.

After years of growth, wine sales disappointed last year, remaining almost static. Wines sales through the impulse sector rose by just 0.1%, according to ACNielsen MAT volume sales to the end of January, 2007. The overall wine market, bolstered by a solid Christmas performance, recovered composure to finish just 0.5% ahead, a weak performance reflecting a slowdown in growth from both Australia and California and a poor performance from South Africa.

Resilient is the word Imperial Tobacco has applied to the tobacco sector for years to describe the way it has coped with increasingly aggressive legislation designed to curb smoking. But now, says trade communications manager Iain Watkins, it is a description it is applying to smokers themselves as they face a growing number of restrictions.

Despite a bias towards ambient and chilled products, the savoury frozen sector is holding its own. Chilled products are perceived as fresher and therefore better, but the frozen category is resisting this trend and focusing on quick, easy and health meals.

Walkers is displaying a Carbon Trust label on packs of its leading crisp variety.

Premier Foods has introduced a top down squeezy bottle for its Branston Relishes range.

Tangerine has announced a new range and reformulated a second.

Infuzions has launched a range of better-for-you natural fruit drinks.

Lucozade Energy has launched an £8.25m integrated marketing campaign.

Carlsberg, official beer of the England Football Team, is launching a national search for the Best England Fan in the World... probably.

WKD is kicking off an irreverent set of sporting awards with lads' magazine, Nuts.

Pernod Ricard's Russian vodka Stolichnaya has joined forces with Xfm to sponsor Music:Response shows and its unsigned band network 'Uploaded'.

Bavaria Malt has been strengthening its position as one of the non-alcoholic beers in Europe.

Anheuser-Busch has introduced Michelob Lager in a re-designed embossed teardrop bottle and all-malt recipe, throughout the UK.

That's why we are taking the campaign direct to our customers to encourage their participation. National press money-off coupons alone can bring millions of pounds of extra turnover into the sector. With only 5,000 store kits available we are making sure our customers are really clued up and operating in the front line.

I am a little less sure about their ranging and display since this is a facility we already provide through our retail club in conjunction with leading suppliers.

His decision not to increase duty on spirits for yet another year, however, tells me he has not forgotten his roots or that there are some very influential people arguing the spirits case.

There's plenty of marketing spend and interesting new brands and flavours around but 'roll out the sunshine' anyway. Richmond's new range of ice creams based on the Quality Street brand and Nestle's Magnificent 7 brands are must stocks this summer.

Most of our retailers don't have the luxury of space in the household section so the sooner they are gone, the better.

PepsiCo UK is launching a campaign urging cash and carries to spring clean snacks fixtures and focus on best sellers.

Al Fresco is launching the Tulip, a new wine product in a non-shattering PET 'glass', designed for open-air public events and other leisure environments where glass is not allowed.

Dry and frozen rice supplier Tilda has launched a new range of frozen risottos.

It's Nut Free, a specialist food company, has been appointed the sole supplier of nut-free products to the NHS.

The Federation of Wholesale Distributors has given a warm welcome to an announcement in the Budget that new measures are being put in place to stem one aspect of duty fraud in the UK alcohol market – particularly as it concerns the beer market.