Jug and Bottle Bubwith

What Jug and Bottle Bubwith does

The Jug & Bottle is a privately held, founder-owned independent delicatessen and off-licence operating from a converted old school building on Main Street in Bubwith, East Riding of Yorkshire. Founded circa 2002 by Louise Smith, the shop combines a curated food offering — fresh bread from Bluebird Bakery (delivered three times weekly), handmade sandwiches, cheeses, chocolates, pickles, preserves, and approximately 40 own-label lines — with a drinks range encompassing over 100 gins (predominantly Yorkshire distillers), craft beer (Unity, Verdant, Cloudwater, Magic Rock), draught ciders and perry, exclusive wines, and specialty spirits. The business is recognised as 'UK's Best Independent Cider Retailer' for 2011 and 2012 and won 'Small Business of the Year' at the 2015 Goole and Howdenshire Business Excellence Awards.

Revenue is generated through five streams: counter retail sales, custom luxury hampers, the recurring Old School Wines membership club (minimum four cases per year with quarterly tastings and home delivery), ticketed tasting and workshop events, and a wine delivery service with national reach. The shop operates Tuesday–Saturday from 10:00 to 17:30 (Sundays closed since February 2020), supplemented by monthly pop-up bar evenings and an annual gin festival. Marketing is conducted primarily through organic social channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok), Louise's personal blog, email newsletters, community involvement (Tour de Yorkshire partnership, local fundraising), and event-driven footfall.

The customer base is entirely consumer-facing and geographically dispersed across local residents of Bubwith and surrounding Yorkshire villages, cycling tourists (since the Tour de Yorkshire in 2016), gift/hamper buyers, and event attendees for weddings, christenings, and celebrations. There is no proprietary technology stack, no AI/ML capability, no app, no API integrations, and no external funding — the business operates as a single-location micro-retailer with 1–10 employees, founder-managed throughout its history.

Name

Jug and Bottle Bubwith

Legal name

The Jug & Bottle

Website

https://jugandbottle.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Jug & Bottle is an independent village delicatessen and off-licence in Bubwith, East Riding of Yorkshire, selling artisan food, 100+ gins, craft beer, wine, and luxury hampers to local residents, cycling tourists, and gift buyers, supplemented by a wine club and tasting events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Food and Drink Retail

NAICS

Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers (44532), Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (7224)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Beer Retail (Bottle Shops & Beer Merchants) (CRANABAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Alcohol Subscription & Wine Clubs (Retail) (CRANABAF), Craft Beer Retail & Bottle Shops (Off-Premise) (CRANAAAC)

Keywords

• Artisan food retail
• Off-licence retail
• Craft beer cider
• Specialty deli products
• Wine club membership

Headquarters

HQ city

Bubwith

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Retail Sales: The primary revenue stream comes from selling artisan food products, fine drinks including gins, beers, ciders, wines, and spirits directly to customers visiting the shop. Products include fresh bread from Bluebird Bakery, cakes, deli items, cheeses, chocolates, and specialty groceries.
2. Hamper Sales: Custom luxury hampers are created and wrapped for customers for various occasions including Christmas, birthdays, and anniversaries. The business offers themed hampers (Chocolate Lover, Beer Lovers, etc.) and eco-friendly packaging options.
3. Old School Wines Membership: A membership-based wine club offering exclusive wines, flexible case selections, quarterly wine tasting evenings, and home delivery. Members commit to minimum 4 cases per year with discounts available.
4. Event Revenue: Revenue generated from ticketed events including gin tastings, cocktail workshops, wine socials, craft beer tastings, chocolate truffle workshops, and wreath-making classes. Also includes pop-up bar evenings held monthly.
5. Wine Delivery: Delivery service for wine orders, particularly for customers unable to visit the shop. National delivery available for wine orders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Jug & Bottle is a village delicatessen and off-licence selling artisan food and fine drinks directly to consumers from its converted schoolhouse shop in Bubwith. The core range covers fresh bread, cakes, deli items, cheeses, chocolates, preserves and other gourmet groceries, alongside 80–100+ gins, craft beer, draught cider, wines (including its own "Old School Wines" club), spirits and soft drinks. The shop also creates custom gift hampers and hosts in-store tasting events and monthly pop-up bar evenings.

Product overview

The Jug & Bottle is a traditional village deli and off-licence shop offering artisan food and fine drinks. The core offering combines a delicatessen (pre-packaged meats, olives, dips, handmade sandwiches, pies, sausage rolls) with an extensive drinks selection including over 100 gins, craft beers, draught ciders, wines (with own house brand), spirits, and soft drinks. The business operates a dual offering: retail products sold across the counter alongside hosted tasting events and a monthly Pop Up Bar. Additional services include custom hamper creation and seasonal events such as the Jug & Gin Festival. The shop has built its reputation on championing independent producers, particularly Yorkshire-based suppliers, and won recognition as 'UK's Best Independent Cider Retailer 2011 & 2012'.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Delicatessen Products Fresh deli items including pre-packaged meats, olives, peppers, dips, houmous, pâtés, handmade sandwiches, pies, pasties, sausage rolls from a local butcher, and scotch eggs, sold over the counter to walk-in customers.
• Bread and Bakery Fresh bread delivered three times a week from Bluebird Bakery in York, including sourdough, spelt, focaccia and specialty rolls, sold in-store to walk-in customers.
• Cakes and Baked Goods Hand-crafted cakes and sweet baked goods available throughout the week, including award-winning brownies from Miss Friday, sweet biscuits and tray bakes, sold in-store.
• Cheese Selection Wide range of cheeses including unusual varieties such as Y Fenni with beer and mustard seed, Harlech with horseradish and parsley, blue cheeses and the Snowdonia range, sold over the counter.
• Chocolate Selection Artisan chocolates from Butlers, Guppy's of York, Seed & Bean, Cupido and Kimberley's, including seasonal gift boxes and individual items starting from 50p.
• Jars, Nibbles and Preserves Pickles, relishes, oils, chutneys, marmalades, jams and curds, including approximately 40 own-label lines such as popcorn, biscuits and savouries.
• Craft Beer and Cider Changing range of craft beer in cans (IPAs, Sours, Pale Ales, Stouts) from breweries such as Unity, Verdant, Cloudwater and Magic Rock, plus draught ciders and perry available to take away in 4-pint jugs.
• Gin Collection Over 100 varieties of gin including unusual and small-batch releases, with a strong focus on Yorkshire distillers, sold in-store and supported by regular tasting events.
• Wine and Old School Wines Membership Extensive wine range from around the world not available in supermarkets, including the shop's own French house wine (white and red), supported by the Old School Wines membership club with tailored cases, quarterly tastings and home delivery (minimum 4 cases per year).
• Spirits Selection of vodka, rum, bourbons, single malts, the SloeMotion range of sloe drinks, PX sherry cask whisky and NOG whisky cream liqueur.
• Soft Drinks High-quality soft drinks including juices, ginger beers, botanical drinks and own-label popcorn, sold in-store.
• Luxury Hampers Custom and seasonal hampers for birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas, with themed options such as 'Chocolate Lover', 'Beer Lovers' and 'Adventurous Cooks', available in traditional basket wrapping or eco-friendly EcoBags.
• Pop-Up Bar Events Monthly evening events on the last Friday of each month (except December) featuring hand-pulled real ale, craft ciders, wine, prosecco, rum, single malts, vodka and a rotating gin selection.
• Tasting Events and Workshops Ticketed in-store tastings and workshops including gin tastings, wine socials, cider evenings, cocktail workshops, chocolate tastings, craft beer tastings, Christmas preview evenings, chocolate truffle workshops, festive cheese and wine evenings, wreath-making classes and tailored private gin tastings for groups of 10+.

Quantifiable outcome

• Recipients of Jug & Bottle hampers become customers themselves, ordering for friends, families, and colleagues

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Mint & MooseminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 5 April 2018Mint & Moose offers a flower collection point at The Jug & Bottle. The partnership allows Mint & Moose customers to collect their flower orders from the shop location, providing convenience for local customers and driving foot traffic to the store.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Oddbins: Long-established UK high street off-licence chain offering wine, beer, spirits and specialty bottles. Comparable in core category (off-premise alcohol retail) though much larger and corporate-owned, contrasting with The Jug & Bottle's independent village deli model.
• Berry Bros. & Rudd: Historic London-based wine and spirits merchant with curated fine-drink retail, private client services and in-store tastings. Overlaps with The Jug & Bottle on fine-drink curation, expert-led tasting experiences and exclusive bottles not found in supermarkets.
• Corney & Barrow: Established UK fine-wine merchant supplying private clients, hospitality and retail. Comparable to The Jug & Bottle's expertise-led curation, exclusive wines and tasting proposition though operates at greater scale with B2B trade alongside retail.
• Majestic Wine: UK's largest specialist wine retailer with nationwide store estate, mixed-case delivery and tasting events. Useful as a scaled comparison point - it competes for the same UK off-premise wine/customer pound but trades on volume, scale and convenience rather than curation.
• Fortnum & Mason (Food & Wine Hall): Iconic London luxury retailer with a strong fine-drink, hamper and gifting arm. Overlaps with The Jug & Bottle on premium hampers, fine-wine/specialty-drink curation and event-driven retail experience, though operates as a destination department store rather than a village shop.

Direct peers

• Tanners Wine Merchants: Independent UK family wine merchant offering curated wine, spirits, tastings and trade/private client services. Comparable as an independent fine-drink retailer combining in-shop tasting, expert curation and home delivery.
• Milroy's of Soho: London-based independent spirits specialist focused on whisky, gin and rare bottles with tasting events and a small retail footprint. Mirrors The Jug & Bottle's gin/spirits specialism, tasting-driven customer engagement and curated-bottle focus.
• The Sampler: Independent UK wine merchant using Enomatic tasting machines and curated bottles for in-store sampling, plus home delivery. Directly comparable to The Jug & Bottle's combination of curatorial retail, tasting experiences and postal delivery.
• Yapp Brothers: Family-owned UK independent wine merchant known for hand-curated European wines unavailable in supermarkets, plus tasting events and mail delivery. Closely comparable as a small independent wine specialist combining curation, events and home delivery.

Emerging players

• The Whisky Exchange: UK-based specialist spirits retailer with deep range, online ordering and event programming. Comparable overlap to The Jug & Bottle's 100+ gin and specialist spirits range, plus tasting events, though operates at greater scale with strong e-commerce.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/JugAndBottleBub
• Instagraminstagram.com/jugandbottlebubwith
• TikToktiktok.com/@jugbottle

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Jug and Bottle Bubwith