Brands looking to enter into the 7th annual London Spirits Competition are encouraged to submit now and get product feedback from the leading trade buyers of the world.
The London Spirits Competition reviews brands in the same way that consumers do: by what they taste like; what the bottle or design looks like; and how much it costs. Any drinks competition relies on two things: the quality of the products that are entered; and the respect of the expertise of the judges tasked with picking out the winners. The London Spirits Competition has focused on both as each year it builds its reputation around the world amongst the leading distillers, brand owners and drinks distributors. Vitor Lourenco, header image sees taking part in the London Spirits Competition as a key way of keeping up with and seeing some of the latest brands in the market
The London Spirits Competition has been created exclusively by the Beverage Trade Network, global drinks event and publishing group dedicated to helping drinks producers and brand owners get closer to the buyers, distributors, and retailers that can bring their products to market.
“It’s a perfect way to meet people in the industry and to discover what the main emerging trends are. It’s also great to see what’s not released yet.” There’s three reasons why top spirits buyers, and leading drinks figures like Oliver Eardley, bartender at the Savoy Hotel, want to take part in judging the London Spirits Competition.
The judging for the competition is broken down into three key areas: Quality; Value; and Packaging and design. A score is given by judges for each criteria which together creates the London Spirits Competition score on which the medal awarded is given.
The London Spirits Competition prides itself on having award winning buyers, bartenders and some of the most influential people working in the UK spirits industry. Individuals that are tasked every day in deciding which products and brands are going to go on back bars and on to drinks lists on some of the most influential venues and bars in the world.
Some new benefits that the 2024 entrants will get are:
● Enhanced Feedback Features: Introducing two new feedback features. Alongside the professional tasting notes, entrants will now receive technical feedback from buyers on improving production processes . Additionally, market feedback from buyers will highlight the alignment of your product with its home country’s competition.
● Promotion at UK Trade Shows:
The competition will be prominently featured in Beverage Trade Network’s new UK trade shows, namely the UK Trade Tasting 2024 and IBWSS UK 2024.
● Enhanced Exposure for Winners:
Competition winners will benefit from enhanced visibility through Beverage Trade Network’s latest UK media assets, including Drinks Merchants, On Trade, and the London Drinks Guide.
● Consumer Awareness Campaign:
In the coming years, LSC is planning an engaging consumer awareness campaign to promote London Competitions. We will feature Master Classes at our trade shows, the UK Trade Tasting and IBWSS UK featuring London Competition winners. The master classes will be led by the producer’s educators and London Competitions judges with the focus to educate end consumers about winning products. Massive video content will also be generated around products and judges recommending products to consumers.
● Expanded Judging Panel:
As part of LSC’s commitment to continual improvement, we are delighted to announce that supermarket chain buyers and more off-trade buyers will be joining our esteemed 2024 Judging panel.
Key Dates:
Super Early Bird: Now to September 30, 2023
Warehouse Closes: March 4, 2024
Registration Ends: February 22, 2024
Judging Date: March 18 and 19, 2024
Winners Announced: April 10, 2024
The London Spirits Competition is now open for submissions.
