Winning the game in alcoholic beverage trends

Alcoholic beverages are a festive product: from a celebratory glass of champagne to this year’s trendy holiday cocktail in the sun. But consumers are always looking for the ‘latest’ creation that matches their lifestyle. In our recent podcast, Lisanne van der Kooi of Food Scientist for Hire, Volker Zurowietz of Sweethouse, Manuel Peña Roig of Delsa, Bas de Kroon of Vanille BV and Michel Goldbach of Dutch Essentials shared with me their insider insight into how to win the game in alcoholic beverage trends.

Humans have been making alcohol for at least 9000 years, since they discovered that mashed sugars and starches, left to ferment, magically transformed into a potent concoction. But there’s a lot of room to manoeuvre to make this millennia-old product fresh and exciting. For example, for customers who want to lower their alcohol consumption, you can reduce the proof of familiar favourites or give non-alcoholic drinks a kick of ‘boozy’ yet zero-proof flavour. But there are also completely new approaches: for example, combining tea leaves and hops in a naturally alcohol-free brew that delivers a unique taste experience.

Creating a new product that stands out, then bringing it to market successfully, poses unique challenges for smaller and medium-sized producers as they try to remain competitive with the big players. You may have your finger on the pulse of today’s trends, but perhaps lack the scientific background to turn your expertise into the latest innovation. Or you need to find solutions for sourcing smaller amounts of ingredients or optimising your stock strategy.

The ingredient suppliers at 1-2-Taste have you covered. In our podcast, I sat down with five of them to discuss the product development journey. Here’s a small sip of their expert insights:

Creating a winning prototype

A successful product needs a balanced flavour in terms of sweetness, acidity, etc. But the ‘right’ balance isn’t the same for everyone: are you creating a beverage for younger women or older men, etc? Always keep your target group in mind.

Getting the best supplier contracts

Price and quality always have to be balanced, but in the end, quality (including of ingredients) is what differentiates your end product. Pricing transparency is key to helping you get the right quality at the right price.