Beverage Strategic Trends

Beverage Trends:
The Strategic Mindset
“I don't set trends. I just find out what they are and exploit
them” - Dick Clark
Significance of Content
Learners should strive to identify emerging trends in the
marketplace through gaining an understanding of the numerous
external forces that impact their business.
In their efforts to recognize Mainstream (broad-based) and
cutting-edge, niche (localized trends) markets, learners
recognize how they can proactively sculpt a competitive
advantage through harnessing a company’s core capabilities.
These efforts help companies to capture market opportunities,
spur innovation, and allow for better problem solving and
decision-making.
1
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of reading this chapter, the learner will be
able to:
Recognize the significance of trends as a part of a successful
strategic approach
Define the distinction between trends versus fads
Reiterate at least 3 beverage trends presented in class that
connect with the students personal experience
Significance of Content

Learners strive to identify emerging trends in the marketplace
through gaining an understanding of the numerous external
forces that impact their business. In their efforts to recognize
broad-based and localized trends, learners recognize how they
can proactively sculpt a competitive advantage through
harnessing a company’s core capabilities. These efforts help
companies to capture market opportunities, spur innovation, and
allow for better problem solving and decision-making.
2
The Origins
Consumption of alcohol began unintentionally around 10,000
years ago (approximately 8000 bce)
Originated from the storage of overripe and decaying fruits,
honey and grains
Intentional production of beer and wine to the first civilization
that arose around 8,000 years ago (approximately 6000 bce)
Mesopotamia and Egypt (largely corresponding to modern day
Iraq)
The origin of distilled spirits is far more recent, and is traced to
Middle East or China at about 700 CE
Ultimately, the creation of an apparatus known as a still was
used to extract and concentrate the alcohol
3
Significant Beverages
Alcoholic based beverages (also referred to as “drinks”) are
relatively distinguishable from one another, as they each look,
smell, and taste quite different
Wine

Beer
Spirits and Liqueurs
Sake
Cider
Coffee
Tea
Heightened Opportunities
Elevated role of the beverage person (bartender, brewer,
sommelier, barista) in the Hospitality Industry
Now many customers are at least as interested in the beverage
professional as they had been the chef
The chef has always been the centerpiece—the one who comes
out and speaks with the customers about the dish at the table,
now the beverage person is as interesting.
What cooking network had done for the chef, the movie Somm
is doing for Sommeliers
5
Necessary Foundation
Associate/Bachelors Degree
Certifications
Sanitation
BASSET
Wine/Beer

Experience
Positions
Owner/Operator
General Manager
Beverage/Wine Director
Beverage Buyer
Sommelier
Brand Ambassador
Distributor/Importer
The Food & BEVERAGE Manager
Restaurants: Food drives revenue
Modern perspective…Beverages can drive profit!
Greater profit margin on beverages
Can off-set the increasing costs found elsewhere
Traditionally, wine has been the driver of alcoholic beverages
in full-service restaurants. But…
Using food as a loss leader as a strategy to…
Given the state of the economy over the past decade, many
hospitality establishments were experiencing decreased profit
margins.
Effective businesses are continually searching for opportunities
to differentiate themselves and remain competitive.
Beverages have been a source of differentiation
Food as a loss-leader in order to get people to buy drinks
McCormick and Schmicks starting at $3.00…but must have 2
drink minimum. According to USA Today, McCormick and
Schmicks offers the 1 happy hour in America
Back in 2014, McDonalds Corporation had procured and then
promoted higher quality coffee as a differentiator which
simultaneously allowed them benefit from the higher margins

(difference between cost of the coffee and their selling price)
offsetting their need to increase food prices due to increasing
costs.
Non alcoholic beverages as a loss leader to buy food and
entertainment
Happy hour or even “happy days” Bar Toma offers ½ priced
wine night on Wednesdays from 430-6 and 9-10.
7
Competitive Advantage?
Trends . . .
General direction or tendency in which something is
developing; in vogue; having a long-lasting change and impact
in the marketplace.
Fads. . .
When consumers are having some interest in a phenomenon
(new product, concept, service, etc.) with exaggerated
enthusiasm for a brief period of time.
Paying attention and/or being ahead of the curve can work to
illuminate a distinction and a competitive advantage—
ultimately leading to profitability
Trends and fads are often used incorrectly—as interchangeable
terms.
Being able to identify fads and trends in their early stages
allows an operation to more fully devote its resources and
address the changing needs of the marketplace.
Trend Examples: Wine kegs, screwcaps, Bourbon barrel aged
beers, ½ bottles of wine, cider, sake
Fad Examples: Cronut, Malort, Miller Clear Beer, Pepsi Clear,
Buttered coffee, Pizza beer, Pruno (Prison) wine made from
fermented ketchup, sugar, fruit and bread (apparently tastes like

rotted garbage, squirrel beer (Brew Dog with a 55% ABV
stuffed in dead animals
Remember this: classics never make a comeback. They wait for
that perfect moment to take the spotlight from overdone, tired
trends.
Read more at
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/tabathacof657349.
html#FgSw5PfwRfG7SfAC.99
8
Trends as a Part of Strategy
Appropriate strategies are the ones selected that enables a
particular company to achieve superior performance and provide
their company with a competitive advantage
Managers play pivotal roles in leading the strategy-making
process.
There are many people and businesses that are “late” to trends,
and mistakenly adopt a trend after it’s no longer in fashion.
They exist in music. They exist in mutual funds. They exist in
clothes and in cars.
Recognizing growing trends as it relates to the application of
beverages within a given business is an imperative effort on
behalf of the business.
decision making.
9
Types of Trends
Efforts to recognize broad-based and localized trends and how
they can proactively sculpt a competitive advantage through

harnessing a company’s core capabilities
Broad-based Trends - Influencing a larger percentage of people
in the wider market place
Localized Trends - Influencing and capturing smaller niche
markets within a localized area
Recognizing growing trends as it relates to the application of
beverages within a given business is an important effort on
behalf of the management team.
decision-making.
10
Origination of Trends
Many trends will be something that has been presented as a:
Renewal - the updating of something that is worn out or run-
down
Reinvention - the process through which something is changed
so much that it appears to be entirely new
Adaptation - a change or the process of change by which
something becomes better suited to its environment
11
Influences of Trends

12
Social/cultural
Political / Legal
Economic
Environmental
Technological
Demographic /
Labor Market
Social / Cultural - Signifying the combination or interaction of
social and cultural values within society or specific to a
geographical area or demographic
Political / Legal – Relating to politics or government control
through federal or local laws and policies
Economical - Pertaining to the production, distribution, and use
of income, wealth, and commodities
Environmental - Relating to the natural world and the impact of
human activity on its condition
Technological - The application of newer tools, techniques, and
processes used for better efficiency and/or effectiveness
Demographic and Labor Market – The developments in
population as they relate to changes in age, gender, marital

status, educational levels, employment status, race, and so on
Influences of Trends
Trends are often founded and influenced in one or several of
these seven external forces
Social-Cultural - Gluten-free, natural, healthful options (yet
what is up with the proliferation of donut shops??)
Political / Legal – The distribution system – 3-tier, minimum
wage, happy hour laws, tied house laws
Economical – Economies of scale – wine kegs
Environmental – Can lead into social/cultural
Technological - Smartphone apps, tablet computers (i.e. iPads
for menus and wine lists), social media, mobile/wireless/pay-at-
the-table payment options.
Demographic and Labor Market – direct implications through
producers and consumers / labor supply, productivity, and
demand
13
Beverage Trends
Overall consumption of alcoholic beverage has increased,
though with a slight decrease of restaurant/bar (on-premise)
consumption
Although a consistent trend is reflected of people buying more
premium beverages:
Drinking less—but drinking better
Beverage Forecast
Alcoholic beverages
1 Craft/artisan spirits
2 Locally produced beer/ wine/spirits
3 House-brewed beer

4 Non-traditional liquors
5 Craft beer
Cocktails/cocktail ingredients
1 Onsite barrel-aged drinks
2 Culinary cocktails
3 Regional signature cocktails
4 Food-beer pairings
5 Edible cocktails
Non-alcoholic beverages
1 House-made/artisan
soft drinks
2 Gourmet lemonade
3 Specialty iced tea
4 Mocktails
5 Coconut water
The National Restaurant Association surveyed professional
chefs, members of the American Culinary Federation, on which
food, cuisines, beverages and culinary themes will be hot trends
on restaurant menus in the year ahead.
The What’s Hot in 2016 survey was conducted in the fall of
2015 among nearly 1,600 chefs.
15
Wine Trends
Wine purchases off-premise through non-traditional retail and
on-line sources
Wine-on-draft
Red and white blends (non Bordeaux style)
Greater awareness of sustainable and natural
Rosé wine – Across the world
Vermouths

China!?
Central Coast California
Wine credentials/certification
Old World, yet second-tier wine countries:
Greece, Portugal, Austria
Eastern European wines
Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania
Wine – More than 10,000 wineries in all 50 states in the U.S.
As the world of wine broadens and American wine drinking
culture becomes more firmly established in the socio-economic
mainstream, wine sales seem likely to become even more
concentrated in the vectors where everyday consumer purchases
are made.
16
Beer Trends
Beer and Wine Hybrids
Lower alcohol (session) beer styles
Barrel Aged Beers
Sour Beers
Regional Craft Breweries Expanding
Collaboration Brewing
Beer credentials/certification
Domestic (mass produced) beer sales has declined for the past 2
years, but American craft brewers captured 7.8 percent of the
U.S. beer market last year, up from a 6.5 percent market share
in 2012 - The Brewers Association.
http://www.mensjournal.com/expert-advice/sour-beer-brewing-
s-next-frontier-20130906

http://www.bevindustry.com/articles/87228-domestic-beer-case-
sales-decline
17
Spirit / Cocktail Trends
Increase of molecular mixology
Classic Cocktails
Culinary cocktails - Seasonality
Exotic ingredients
Homemade syrups, bitters
In-house barrel aged spirits/cocktails
In-house infusions
Japanese Whiskeys
Flavored Whiskeys
Bitters
Mixologists are “championing simplicity, using three or four
ingredients, so that base spirits are allowed to shine, and
moving away from the seven- to eight-ingredient cocktails.”
18
Coffee/Tea
Coffee & Tea
Fair and direct trade coffee and tea
Single origin and estate
Coffee
Local specialty coffee roasters
Micro roasting
Draft coffee and draft lattes
Coffee kegs with use of nitro
Barrel-aged coffee
Cascara

Tea
Craft tea – Carbonated tea, bubble Tea
Flavored ice teas
Tea cocktails
http://www.qsrmagazine.com/marc-halperin/coffee-tea-are-hot-
trends?microsite=156400
http://www.qsrmagazine.com/outside-insights/farm-
cup?microsite=156400
http://www.qsrmagazine.com/menu-innovations/reading-tea-
leaves?microsite=156400
The breakout year for nitro coffee. Nitro coffee is created by
adding nitrogen to cold brew coffee, resulting in a drink with a
naturally creamy mouthfeel.
Coffee connoisseurs may already be familiar with nitro coffee
as the beverage has been in the market for the past few years at
some third wave coffee shops and as a RTD beverage.
However, nitro has finally hit the mainstream thanks to
Starbucks, which rolled out nitro coffee in select stores
nationwide.
Cut the waste with cascara
According to Mintel 2017 Foodservice Trend Reduce, Reuse,
Upcycle, consumers are increasingly concerned with food waste
and chefs are finding new ways to repurpose ingredients to
reduce overall waste.
One beverage that fits into this trend is the coffee/tea hybrid
cascara, a slightly tart/bitter caffeinated beverage created by the
discarded skin of coffee cherries.
While still a relatively niche beverage, use of cascara is on the
rise.
Blue Bottle Coffee mixes cascara with butter to create a Cascara
Butter Toast. Even Starbucks is focusing on cascara, as the
company announced it would launch a cascara latte in 2017 at

its bi-annual investor conference
19
Other Beverage Categories
Sake
Cider
Mead
Sake is no longer confined to the shelves of sushi bars and
Japanese restaurant, but is now earning an ever present fixture
on beverage menus around the country
Consumers, most notably millennials (and those under 35 years)
are gravitating towards sake. Overall consumers are becoming
more educated about this Japanese beverage and embracing all
sorts of upscale products.
As the sake category grows in the United States, many
consumers are opting for sake-based cocktails.
Cider is one of the fastest growing beverage categories
Good supplement for those with gluten sensitivities or celiac
disease
Mead has been reawakened and is moving beyond medieval fairs
and Halloween
20
2015

Kendall College
Bev 201
Juan Pablo Madrigal
TRENDS IN BEVERAGE | VERMOUTH [ ]
We explore the comeback of a seemingly forgotten classic
aperitif and how it’s helping shape the
modern craft cocktail scene.
Times have certainly changed since we saw the first iterations
of cocktails craze the thirsty
patrons of Jerry Thomas’ bars. The beverage scene has seen
times of temperance and self-
indulgence but also times of measure, just like the times we live
on right now. In these times
when people are being mindful about what they drink but more
important how much they drink
is when creativity starts to play a crucial role in shaping where
the industry is heading; simply
because during temperance there is not a lot of drinks going
around so there is really no need to
create anything new and at the other side of the spectrum, when

people are drinking
indiscriminately no one really cares about anything special
unless it intoxicates faster – I’m
looking at you 80s.
Lucky for us, we live in a day and age when mixologists are
constantly innovating and
experimenting with previously unthinkable combinations and
flavor profiles. On that respect, I
want to quickly shift out focus towards what is happening in the
cocktail scene and how we are
transitioning from the “new age” era of cocktails with its
blenders at full throttle and unnaturally
colorful icy cocktails back to the basics of what a cocktail
really means aka “classic cocktails” –
not to dismiss frozen cocktails which are also seeing a
comeback -. Classic cocktail ingredients
and spirits that were almost forgotten, such as vermouth,
applejack, absinthe and bitter liqueurs
are being brought back by incredibly passionate and
knowledgeable bartenders around the world
and creating their own interpretations of classic cocktails that
were also almost forgotten
The result of this unsurprising transition is a new appreciation
for beautifully crafted cocktails

and complex flavor profiles that were, for a while, considered
old and outdated. These flavors
come from equally crafted ingredients that for quite some time
sat at a back corner of liquor shelf
collecting dust. In the next pages, I will talk about one such
ingredient: Vermouth.
BASICS
To be able to talk about what part Vermouth is playing in
cocktails today and how it’s shaping
the industry we must first understand what it is.
According to Martin Doudoroff from Vermouth101, the word
“vermouth” comes from the old
German word for “wormwood”, which was once one of its
primary infused botanicals and some
versions still employ a little of the stuff. Vermouth is a fortified
aromatized wine native to the
Torino region of Italy – aromatized because it has been infused
with botanicals – and even
though it is a fortified wine, it is considered an aperitif due to
its lower alcohol content. In and
around it’s native country is mostly taken neat or over a little
ice, unlike in America where is

mostly used as an ingredient in mixed drinks.
Vermouth is considerably popular in Europe and was widely
appreciated in America in the early
days of the cocktail but after prohibition it was relegated to the
back of the shelf and became
quite misunderstood; thanks to this few Americans –up until
this day – knew how to use it or
even appreciated it. Again, Vermouth101 hits the nail by saying
that “today we’re living in a new
“golden age” of vermouth with classic brands revitalized and
new, experimental vermouths
emerging both from the traditional European sources and from
upstart American artisans.”
Vintage add for Martini &
Old world vermouths
Left to right: Punt E Mes, Carpano Antica, Lillet Blanc, Noilly
Prat
QUICK GUIDE TO STYLES
Vermouths can be either red wine or white wine based, although
some styles may take the

unfermented fruit juice and add alcohol for a mistelle base.
Regardless of the base, the results are
a Dry White, a Sweet Red or a Sweet White and their
applications are endless: Dry Whites are
the base for Martinis, Sweet Reds are the base for Manhattans
and Sweet Whites – which are
mostly taken straight – can be cross-used in both.
WHO MAKES THEM
Traditional Vermouth has been mad for more than two
centuries in Italy and France, making red and white
versions respectively. The predominant makers are
household names that have set the standards for quality
and style and are a must for any bar that considers itself
serious about cocktails.
In Italy, the first branded Vermouth was a red variety made by
Carpano who still holds a
privileged position and one of bartenders’ favorites. Punt E Mes
is a bitter sweet variation by
Carpano. Cinzano is also one of the earliest producers and
make a sweet white, a sweet red and
an extra dry. Martini & Rossi is unquestionably the top
international seller known for its dry

vermouths but mostly from its rosso.
In France, Noilly Prat is the most notable brand; being only 14
years younger than Carpano it is
the second oldest branded vermouth. Noilly Prat is mostly
known for its white dry vermouths.
Also worth mentioning is Lillet from Bordeaux, they make
Lillet blanc a golden hued medium
bodied vermouth
In America, Vya is pushing the boundaries of vermouth
production and here is where vermouth
really starts to trend.
TRENDING
Like I mentioned before, vermouth has been made for over 200
years and almost the same way at
that. However, with the recent cocktail boom came a new school
of American producers that
have very interesting takes on the original aperitif. One of such
producers is Vya, that has been
tweeking and tinkering with the original recipes and coming up
with modern iterations.
“These guys are making a product that historically has

been secret about its formulations,” Doudoroff says
““You don’t really know what you’re buying anymore
when you buy vermouth, and perhaps that’s a
redeeming characteristic. It’s become a real loosey-
goosey thing, and as it goes on, the more
differentiated these new vermouths are going to become.” What
does this mean? Basically that
there really is not a lot to go by when making vermouth which
leaves a lot of room for
interpretation and creativity; I mean, these recipes have been
going around for such a long time
and are made at such an industrial level that at this point, they
are more of a marketing strategy
and sales differentiator than an actual guideline for a style.
There certainly is a specific profile to
be set as a goal, but the new world producers are finding new
and interesting ways to get there.
Vya Extra Dry Vermouthcame out from California in 1999
followed by Sutton Cellars Brown
Label Vermouth, Imbue Bittersweet Vermouth after that. Soon
Oregon will make its debut with
Patrick Taylor from Cana’s Feast Winery. According to Imbibe

Magazine “Taylor is designing
New world vermouths
Left to right: Imbue Bittersweet, Atsby line, Vya Sweet
Vermouth
his vermouth to be dark and earthy, using a base of red wine
and a proprietary blend of
botanicals that will include traditional ingredients as well as
spices from Africa and South
America.”
The West Coast will also dive into the vermouth pool soon with
Atsby Vermouth from New
York and four different vermouths from Brooklyn under the
label Bespoke Vermouth. Finally,
the craft bitters and liqueurs Bittermens also from New York
will introduce two vermouths into
the market later this year. It is obvious that the movement is
seeing an explosion unlike it has
seen before along other libations like homemade bitters and
amaros.
In Europe vermouth is mostly taken neat or over ice because
that is the way it’s been done from
the start but Americans, who lost the palate and appreciation for

the aperitif a long time ago, it is
best used in cocktails and we see it in many applications
covering the whole range of spirits from
Gin to Bourbon.
With the addition of new recipes and styles of vermouth also
come new cocktails and interpretations of old classics. Check
out
Saveur’s video “6 Manhattans in 60 seconds” for a quick
rundown of different uses and profiles. Of course, there is a new
appreciation for the stuff so now you see more people in
American bars ordering vermouth neat but in parts of Europe
there are even bars devoted to the stuff. Bon Appetit points our
attention to vermuterias in Barcelona like Bodega 1900 from the
Adrià family. A similar concept is coming to Chicago soon with
Artemisa
From Bon Appetit
American Light Cocktail
Punt E Mes and Aperol topped with club soda

References
American Light Recipe - Bon Appetit. (2015). Retrieved June 1,
2015, from
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/american-light
Clark, P. (2009). Elements: Vermouth. Retrieved June 1, 2015,
from
http://imbibemagazine.com/elements-vermouth/
Clark, P. (2012). Domestic Vermouth. Retrieved June 1, 2015,
from
http://imbibemagazine.com/domestic-vermouth/
Doudoroff, M. (n.d.). Vermouth 101. Retrieved June 10, 2015,
from http://vermouth101.com/index.html
Lynch, D. (2015). A Guide to Drinking Vermouth - Bon
Appetit. Retrieved June 10, 2015, from
http://www.bonappetit.com/drinks/cocktails/article/vermouth-
drinking-guide
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/american-light
http://imbibemagazine.com/elements-vermouth/
http://imbibemagazine.com/domestic-vermouth/
http://vermouth101.com/index.html
http://www.bonappetit.com/drinks/cocktails/article/vermouth-
drinking-guide

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