Emma Rumney

Dutch brewer Heineken pledged it could deliver more growth with fewer resources as it pitched an updated five-year strategy to investors on Thursday that will see it focus more heavily on specific brands and markets.

Younger Europeans are drinking less alcohol because of the way it tastes and concern over their health, a market research firm said on Tuesday, suggesting slow sales are a result of changing preferences rather than just a financial squeeze.

Exports of U.S. spirits fell 9% in the second quarter, according to a report by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States published on Monday, which warned that trade tensions were hitting demand in key markets.

At least 15 million people aged 13 to 15 use e-cigarettes globally, with young people on average nine times more likely to vape than adults in countries with data, the World Health Organization said on Monday.

The Belgian beer industry, Mexico's tequila makers and Heineken all lobbied governments this summer to resist a push by the U.N.'s health agency to introduce tougher rules targeting alcohol, letters and an email reviewed by Reuters show.

Americans keen on a stiff drink at a bar should brace for a sobering rise in prices, with Scotch whisky connoisseurs potentially stomaching an extra $1 on average per drink, thanks to U.S. tariffs on UK and European goods.

British American Tobacco for years fought the sale of unauthorised, disposable vapes in the U.S. - the world's largest market for smoking alternatives - lobbying lawmakers and arguing aggressively in court that they were illegal.

The U.S. Postal Service has cracked down on distributors of unregulated vapes using its services for business shipments, letters reviewed by Reuters show, in a blow to a multi-billion dollar industry that has dented Big Tobacco's sales.

The United States' 15% tariff on EU goods could reduce the value of alcohol sales by almost $2 billion and put 25,000 U.S. jobs at risk, a group of 57 alcohol industry groups wrote in a letter sent to U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

Diageo reported a smaller than expected fall in annual profit on Tuesday and said it expected to have a permanent new CEO by October, soothing investor concerns in a tough time for the spirits sector and driving its shares up nearly 7%.