As we raise our glasses to a new decade, it is a good time to take stock and consider the huge shift in consumer attitude which has heavily influenced the drinks market and will continue to into the 2020’s.
For 2020 and beyond the “tinny” is set to continue to expand its market share, alongside draft premixes, low/no ABV and BIG flavour beers, here are the top five drink trends that you need to consider:
1.No & Low Alcohol continues to gain market share and win hearts and minds. More craft and multi-national breweries are developing and bringing to market NA versions of their most popular brands – and we’ll start to see more penetration of the on-trade market with the bigger pub and bar brands feature a NA option on draught (taking the lead example of a small range of M&B and Heineken Pubs in 2018/19). We’ll start to see an increase in NA equivalents for spirits and finally decent wine options.
2. Canned options and draft for all types of alcoholic drink out there and true dominance of pe-mix spirits and cocktails. Canned and draft wine will finally take off and the public perception of cans as a “less classy” option compared to bottles will start to shake partly due to the graphic design and typography on the cans.
3. Hard Seltzer – finally will explode here in the UK in 2020. I expect the bigger US brands like White Claw, Truly and Bon & Viv are likely to be launched in early 2020, likely into the bigger tied pub and bar groups in Q1 range reviews. “Hard” versions of traditional soft options will also start to appear – imagine hard coffee, sodas, juices, tonics – expect to see alcoholic versions of your favourite soft brands.
4. BYOB – Taking cues from the independent “craft beer” venues, the bigger chains will start to add take-away options for draught beer within their bars. Off-trade grocers like Waitrose have already piloted this in Oxford, but the success of the scheme will see a roll out to other similarly demographic-led stores. The next step will be major bar groups trialling this in key high-footfall, affluent consumer bars for a potential roll-out later in 2020.
5. ‘Craft’ Lager – Certain craft beer brands are all about lager – Camden and Lost & Grounded notably – but expect every major craft brewery to produce a lager product that can both entice the craft curious consumer who isn’t quite ready for pale ales, IPA and real ale. This will also provide a “trading up” step for customers used to buying from macro brands like Heineken and Carlsberg.
Opportunities for 2020
Ensure that there are Non-alcoholic options in your venue! The biggest start to 2020 will be all about communicating this offering for Dry January, and enticing consumers out of their homes – or convincing them that the NA part of the market will be more healthy.
“Healthier” drinking will also lead into the Hard Seltzer craze, where often these beverages are 100 calories or less. Make sure you have a “premium/craft” lager option on your bar – consumers are increasingly trading up on their draught lager drinking.
By Russ Clarke, an experienced beer and brewery professional, having worked with one of the fastest growing breweries globally, the leading UK online beer marketplace and a north of England based brewery with over 22 years of industry heritage.
