Paritosh Bhandari, Co-Founder – Tipple Brands
I would highlight some current trends of liquor production and consumption which are popular in the world. First is the healthy and happy trend, which is about healthy alcohol. There is a Heineken campaign which promotes moderate drinking. The campaign is actually a shift from regular beer and alcohol advertising. A Heineken commercial says that the sunrise
belongs to moderate drinkers
A notable development in terms of healthy drinking is moving away of beers from 8%-10% alcohols to about 2% or even 1% alcohol, for example, Foster’s Lager. Apart from strong alcohol beer, people are also moving away from sugar, which is really the new tobacco. This is evident in the success of Skinnygirl vodkas, gins, tonics, etc. It is all about usage of natural ingredients and no added alcohol or sugar. The brand did business of about 200 million dollars in four years.
People are now associating with events which are about healthy body and healthy mind. One such event is the London Beer Mile. In Canada, in an attempt to associate beer with health, a post-workout beer, called Lean Machine, has been launched. The beer has got certain post-workout proteins and vitamins that get your body in shape again.
In vodka a health-related innovation is Bellion Vodka, launched in Las Vegas recently. Formulated by a guy from Hyderabad, Bellion is easy on your liver. It cuts down the harmful effects of alcohol by almost 93%.
The second trend is of flavours. We see lots of flavoured beers, flavour ciders, flavoured vodka, flavoured gins. Everything has got flavoured. Two years ago, Fireball, a cinnamon-flavoured whisky, was launched. It turned out to be the fastest selling brand of any alcohol. People are moving towards flavoured products and light whisky, light rum, light gin and so on.
However, there is also a trend of beers with very high alcohol. One such beer is Brewdog with over 55% alcohol which blurred the distinction between spirits and beers.
A lot is also happening in ciders. Gone are the days of only apple cider. Now ciders made from kiwi, passion fruit, raspberry, etc are also available. In vodkas also, you now have glazed donut-flavoured and bacon-flavoured vodka. Bacon-flavoured vodka became a huge trend in the USA two years back.
Even brands like Jack Daniel’s and Glenfiddich have shed their old imagery and are moving towards flavours. Jack Daniel’s has come up with a honey-flavoured Tennessee whiskey. Glenfiddich recently launched the first single malt Scotch whisky ever finished in craft India Pale Ale beer casks. In the cocktail space also vegetable flavours like carrot and cucumbers are being introduced.
The third trend is innovation which is more than the buzz word.People are adopting and adapting their lifestyle to new innovative products. We have seen 0 degree or 1 or -1 degree
chilled beers. Now, a start-up, called Beyond Zero, is selling a machine which freezes alcohol into small cubes of ice.
Thanks to innovations wine is no more a drink which is caught up with a lot of rituals around it. Now wine is on tap and in cans. Just open the can and have wine. In the vodka space, the innovation is the vodka made from cactus and cow milk. One of the largest selling vodkas in the UK is the Black Cow Vodka which is made from cow’s milk.
Another noteworthy innovation is of non-colour whisky similar to rum and vodka. World’s first non-alcoholic distilled spirit, Seedlip, has also hit the market.
There is a trend of brands going for specific categorisation so far unheard of. For example, a beer, called Animee, has been specifically made for the women. Beers are even made for dogs. I got one for the friend’s dog from London, which is now being stocked in lots of bars and pubs in London.
The drinks industry is going through a technological breakthrough. Now, a cocktail making machine is there to be your bartender. It mixes everything kind of fresh and serves you cocktails in no time. To keep tab on your drinking, technology is being integrated with your smart phone. The innovative DrinkTracker actually tracks your drinking to tell you how many
calories you have consumed, how many alcohol percentages you have consumed and whether you are fit to drive.