After hiking the price of its cream of tomato soup by 79% at the start of the year, Heinz was firmly in our bad books – but a new collaboration withAbsolut Vodka might just be about to turn all of that around.
In a partnership we didn’t even know we needed, the two brands have come together to create the ultimate jar of Pasta alla Vodka sauce.
Spicy vodka pasta has long been a favourite with Italian food lovers, but the dish has been experiencing something of a moment in the spotlight ever since supermodel Gigi Hadid shared her own viral recipe on social media.
The dish has since become one of the trendiest recipes on TikTok and Instagram, leading Heinz to pull themselves into gear and create their own version of the popular sauce.
Despite its over 150-year history of creating world-renowned tomato-based products, Heinz has admitted to being ‘ridiculously late’ to the tomato-based pasta sauce game.
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Now, though, that is all set to change as the brand releases its own version of the much-loved recipe to the masses, in jar-form, through the creation of Heinz x Absolut Tomato Vodka Pasta Sauce.
Calling it ‘a match made in pasta heaven,’ according to a press release the vodka in the sauce ‘unlocks the flavours and intensifies the aroma’ of the rich and creamy tomato, basil and cheese concoction.
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During the cooking process, most of the alcohol from the vodka is reduced, boosting the volatile flavour compounds already present in the tomatoes and creating a rich texture that perfectly balances the creamy, cheese notes with the rich tomato and fragrant basil.
Speaking on the new release, Caio Fontenele, Heinz New Ventures Director, said: “While it may have taken over 150 years of tomato expertise to launch our first Heinz pasta sauce, we’re determined to continue innovating and delighting consumers with delicious flavours, at the speed of social media trends.
“We are thrilled with the partnership between these two centenary brands, bringing the first tomato vodka pasta sauce to major UK supermarkets. The iconic combination of Heinz’s high-quality tomato sauces and Absolut’s premium vodka is set to offer fans the ultimate pasta alla vodka experience. And the result is absolutely delicious!”
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Of the launch, Leanne Banks, Marketing Director, Pernod Ricard UK, added: “It’s only natural that we’d partner with Heinz on this ultimate collaboration between two iconic brands, with two iconic bottles.
“As the UK’s no.1 premium vodka, Absolut was Born to Mix, whether that’s in delicious drinks or fun food combinations and Heinz x Absolut Tomato Vodka Pasta Sauce is a match made in heaven. Now fans of our brand can enjoy Absolut in an entirely new and innovative way, Pasta alla Vodka style.”
A limited number of the Heinz x Absolut Tomato Vodka Pasta sauce jars will be available at Waitrose from mid-April for £2.50 for a 350g jar.
However, if you don’t want to miss out, you can pre-order one of a limited run of the special sauce from Heinz’s direct-to-consumer website, www.heinztohome.co.uk, to get your hands on a jar ahead of its official supermarket launch.
UK News
Football Manager 25 has been officially cancelled following delays
Danny Jones
Beloved videogame simulator Football Manager 25 has been officially cancelled following continued delays.
The long-standing game where players take control as virtual managers of football teams has been a mainstay of digital sporting entertainment for more than three decades.
Developed by London-based studio Sports Interactive and published by gaming giants SEGA, the game hasn’t missed a single season since it began life as Championship Manager back in 1992.
However, following two significant delays to this year’s title, Sports Interactive have confirmed that Football Manager 25 has now been cancelled, despite countless pre-orders having already been made.
While the news doesn’t come as a total surprise, with FM25 having first been delayed ahead of its initial November 2024 release date and then moved again to March 2025, many fans would
The statement reads: “Sports Interactive [SI] regret to inform that, following extensive internal discussion and careful consideration with SEGA, we have made the difficult decision to cancel Football Manager 25 and shift our focus to the next release.
“For the large numbers of you who pre-ordered FM25, we thank you enormously for your trust and support – we’re very sorry to have let you down. Please see the FAQs below on obtaining your refund.
“We know this will come as a huge disappointment, especially given that the release date has already moved twice, and you have been eagerly anticipating the first gameplay reveal. We can only apologise for the time it has taken to communicate this decision.
“Due to stakeholder compliance, including legal and financial regulations, today was the earliest date that we could issue this statement.”
Insisting that they pride themselves on “delivering the best value for money games that bring you countless hours of enjoyment”, they simply didn’t feel like they were able to release the latest FM title to a good enough standard in its current state following playtesting.
They go on to add that ahead of working on this, the studio undertook the “biggest technical and visual advancement in the series for a generation, laying the building blocks for a new era”, hence why the significant delays. The news has been met with mixed reactions, to say the least.
Don’t worry only gotta wait till November!!! Only in February FFS
— Out of Context Football Manager (@nocontextfm1) February 7, 2025
You can read the statement in full HERE, in which they also rationalise that it simply no longer made sense or felt fair to expect people to buy FM25 when it was ready only to purchase the next instalment later in the year.
Fortunately, with regular updates as well as community mods and patches to the current Football Manager (FM24 was released back in November 2023), loyal fans have been more understanding about the delays and now the cancellation.
SI signed off by stating: “Through the cancellation, every effort is now focused on ensuring that our next release achieves our goal and hits the quality level we all expect. We will update you on how we are progressing with that as soon as we are able to do so.
“Thank you for reading, your patience and your continued support. Our full focus now returns to creating a new era for Football Manager.”
Lighting a candle for the people who collect a physical copy of every Football Manager, with no FM25 their collections will be ruined forever. pic.twitter.com/M1S5LiLJtQ
A Greater Manchester Wetherspoons has been revealed as ‘one of the UK’s most beloved pubs’
Danny Jones
Whatever you make of them, Wetherspoons remains the biggest pub chain in the UK and millions of Brits drink in them every week; in fact, as it turns out, one of their Greater Manchester locations has just been revealed as ‘one of the most beloved pubs’ in the country.
The J D Wetherspoon name is one you’ll typically see at least once if not more in most towns and cities and given that they boast more than 800 across the UK and Ireland, their dominance of the UK drinking scene remains pretty steadfast.
Although many have railed against the massive franchise over the past few years, with thousands famously flocking to use the ‘Neverspoons’ app within just a week of its launch back in 2020, an estimated 20.5 million visit every six months.
The point being, ‘Where is the nearest Spoons?’ is a very common query online and punters still regularly search for them on Google Maps – quite literally, as it happens, as the latest data from the tech giants has revealed just how popular one particular Manchester location is. Drum roll, please…
Marking 20 years of Google Maps’, those behind the website and app pooled together their stats on the best-loved pubs nationwide and, yes, Manchester’s very own Moon Under The Water managed to make the top 20.
The busy Deansgate boozer, famous for rowdy weekends and being one of if not the only Wetherspoons we know of that includes a built-in dancefloor (perhaps the only one full stop) is certainly a memorable watering hole – provided you don’t drink so much you struggle to recollect much of anything.
Whilst we’re on the subject of Wetherspoons, they actually take up half of the list with various venues up and down the country, including four of the top five.
Other names that made the cut were Waxy O’Connor’s London, which once had a space in Manchester’s Printworks; England’s so-called oldest pub, the Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem in Nottingham, as well as few other storied London public houses.
For context, this list was compiled strictly by using data directly from the search engine. The top spots are based on places that have the most reviews and a rating over 4.0 stars on Google Maps and those locations were then calculated by the number of reviews and average review rating taken into account.
The main bar areaThe view from above looking down onto the dancefloorIt is the biggest and one of the most frequented Wetherspoons in all of Greater Manchester. (Credit: The Manc Group)
We’ll admit, of all the brilliant Manchester pubs and bars we know and love, we were quite expecting to see a simple Spoons beating them all out on the list.
Meanwhile, as part of the wider 20th-anniversary round-ups, Google also shared the likes of ‘best’/most-searched restaurants in the country, as well as some of the most popular Italian spots.
The only nod Greater Manchester received was among dining spots, with Turtle Bay’s Northern Quarter venue coming in at number 10.
So, what do you reckon then: are you a fan of Spoons and, more specifically, The Moon Under Water, or do you only support independent pubs and bars?