Cabinet Liquid Magazine Summer 2023

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Liquid, a printed, quarterly round up of our weekly Liquid Thinking articles, which offer our commentary and insights into a wide range of drinks-related subjects, ranging from how to create drinks that appeal to Gen Zers, through to the continuing drought in drinks innovation.

Not all the articles will be relevant to your specific area of 'liquid interest', nevertheless we're sure you will find something that stimulates your thinking and possibly even changes how you view a particular opportunity or challenge.

So now just grab a drink, sit back, sip and enjoy.

THE EDIT

22

CLIMATE CHANGE VINTAGES...

...are here.

Why is everything so boring? 26

INNOVATION DROUGHT

30

TEA TIME

So uncool, it's now cool?

34

GOLF ANYBODY?

Why is golf being used to market drinks all of a sudden?

38

COFFEE PODS

From Earth killers...

...to cool compostable credibility? 42

LIQUID FOUNDERS

Jeremey Knight, Ernie Coffee.

BOOZE THAT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE BOOZE

It’s a bold statement, but across a number of recent launches, we’re seeing brands deliberately distance themselves in their packaging from the world of alcohol. Instead, they’re taking their cues from lifestyle packaging and functional drinks, with their vibrant colours and health halo. Or else, they’re throwing out the rule book completely.

Want a whisky that doesn’t look like a whisky? How about a beer that doesn’t look like a beer? Or even, a non-alc beer that doesn’t look like a beer? Considering that last one’s identity is entirely defined by the thing that it’s mimicking, that would seem a risky move. And yet these are some of the branding decisions we’re increasingly seeing being made. Next up in alcohol packaging design...not looking like you’re an alcoholic product.

Markedly, the US and Canada are stealing a march on this. Let’s look at the evidence. First up, Weirdo Whiskey. This US launch prides itself on not looking anything like a whisky usually looks. According to the brand, its tie dye, cosmic and

slightly psychedelic label design is intended to mark: “A new paradigm shift in the spirits space, Weirdo was born to service the odd ones, the ones that need celebration”. Intended to transcend traditional whisky cues, its design is a pointed call out to those that usually feel excluded by the category. That it is also flavoured with pomegranate is also intended to bring in those that usually pass by the whisky shelf.  We need to give an honourable mention to another new brand, Turntable here. With images of fruit, palms and the use of bright red, yellow, and orange, its new line of blended Scotch actually resembles a rum much more than a whisky. But then the brand does market itself with the line “blended to stand out”. And it does.

A BEER BY ANY OTHER NAME...

Next up, we’re moving to the world of beer. Non-alcoholic brand Partake has just undergone a rebrand. The Canadian brew has ditched the motifs of its old design, which placed it firmly in the beer world. Its colour coded cans, with black and white images of raised hands at a concert and font that puts the beer type, such as IPA, front and centre, has purposefully rooted it in modern craft beer. So its new pack design is a bold departure.

Resembling much more a hard seltzer, a kombucha, or another trend-driven wellness drink, Partake has entirely ditched anything that visually links it to beer. The new pastel packs put the brand name front and centre, reducing the beer varietal to a small mention up top. According to a press release to mark the relaunch, “the new packaging design that demonstrates a visual storytelling appealing to today's multi-faceted, modern drinker who partakes in it all”. Rooting it in the wellness and lifestyle worlds, the brand is keen to visually identify itself as low calorie and a key part of active lifestyles. In fact it claims its beers are the

lowest calorie, non-alcoholic craft beer on the market, at under 30 calories per can. Its pastel hues, it’s true, will now look much more at home thrown in a gym bag for a post-workout treat, than a can bearing images of a sweaty crowd raving at a concert.

BREAK GLASS IN AN EMERGENCY

Then, there comes a curious new duo. Have you ever seen a winebox that looks like this? Looking more like an emergency first aid kit or a pack of batteries than a box of rosé, this duo from House Wine and ionized alkaline water brand, Essentia has practicality at its heart. Gone are the floaty angels, pastels and images of blossom so commonly associated with rosé, replaced by something that looks like it should say ‘break glass in case of emergency’. Of course, this is no ordinary wine box, it’s a wine and water duo, for balanced summer refreshment. But it’s interesting that House Wine’s blush branding has been entirely replaced by the functional brutality of Essentia’s “9.5 pH or higher ionized alkaline water” brand world.

Image source: Brewbound

Image source: Prnewswire

WHY BE SO DISTANT?

So why are brands distancing themselves from booze, and taking on the cues of non-alc categories? In the case of Weirdo, this seems more of an attempt to distance the product from a category that its target consumer has either felt is inaccessible to them at best, or unwelcoming at worst. These packaging decisions are rooted in a sense of rejecting that to which its target consumers feel they don’t belong, and welcoming them in with something that feels more comfortable and recognisable.

There’s also a sense of rebellion. No-one wants to drink what their parents drank. Brands like Turntable and Weirdo visually don’t belong with those dusty bottles Gen Z may or may not have taken a few sneaky sips from and topped back up with water, before a night out. Shhh.

ASPIRATIONAL LIFESTYLES

However, as brands like Weirdo, Partake and the Essentia and House Wine collab show, to really speak the visual language of Gen Z, and the younger cohort of Millennials, rooting brands in a lifestyle-driven space is key. What is aspirational to Gen Z is not what has driven many previous generations. There’s anomalies, sure. But it’s wellness, not wealth that universally appeals. To resonate, brands need not concern themselves with looking overly premium, they need to focus on belonging to the wellness, lifestyle-led world these consumers want to belong to.

By rejecting the traditional tropes of drinks design and instead opting for cues more associated with a growing wellness industry, brands are placing themselves in the heart of what appeals to this educated, imageconscious cohort.

But it can’t be ignored that drink, and particularly drinking to excess, just doesn’t appeal as much to this health-conscious generation. Scrapping the visual style that many categories have long adhered to and adopting that of the wellness market, enables a brand to not only stand out amongst its peers, but blend in with this consumer’s carefully curated image.

Basking a little in the health halo of wellness brands through leaning into their visual style puts alcohol brands in a more neutral space, visually. This is something that will be especially important for non-alc brands as they seek to distance themselves and be less defined by what they are not, and celebrated and embraced more for what they are. As the non-alc category, and particularly spirits seek to redefine themselves as standing on their own two feet and offering something better than alcohol (whether you buy into that concept or not), the visual language used to market it can only move ever further apart from its full-strength counterparts.

ISN'T CIDER BETTER YET?

WHAT SHOULD THE FUTURE OF CIDER LOOK LIKE?

Familiar with the phrase ‘peaked in high school’?

Long before craft beer or craft spirits, cider led the charge when it comes to having an image overhaul in the mid-2000s, moving things on from superstrength park bench sipper, or farmyard scrumpy to modern, LDA+ friendly, trendy session drink of choice. But since then its slipped back into mundanity. Despite numerous flavour spin offs and new product launches, no-one has addressed or updated cider’s now rather tired image for some time. So, what does the future hold?

Magners was a marketing masterclass. Cast your mind back to the sweltering hot summer of 2006, and bottles of this new take on cider were everywhere. The brand was doing something no-one else had cared to do in decades; invest in the cider category. From adverts on every bus stop, to promotions in bars, the Irish cider was there, encouraging drinkers to put ice in their cider for the first time. And its packaging was its secret weapon. At 568ml (a pint to you and I) it was an awkward pour into its deliberately undersized glass, especially with ice, meaning pub goers had to still carry the bottle with them, letting everyone know what they were drinking. Smart.

ME-TOO BRANDS GALORE

The ploy worked, and soon had me-too brand Bulmers (then owned by Scottish & Newcastle, latterly Heineken) forced to catch up. Then came the flurry of other ciders, who jumped on any and every music festival or activity where they could find their target LDA to 25-year-old audience. Remember Gaymer’s cider and their sponsorship of every event ever? Or what about Brothers cider? Though they were launched at Glastonbury festival, they’ve shifted their focus to a more studenty crowd in recent years with a roster of novelty flavours, from Toffee Apple, to Raspberry Ripple and Cherry Bakewell.

And of course, they’re not the only brand to target this age bracket’s infamous sweet tooth; Kopparberg and Rekorderlig were again kind of revolutionary when they launched, with their sweet, fruity, and easily quaffable ciders. They have of course, continued to debut numerous flavour spin-offs since.

SPINNING THEIR WHEELS

Since 2006, the category hasn’t stood still. There’s been many cycles or phases of innovation. After modern apple ciders, came pear, then came cloudy ciders. Next a few producers such as Thatcher’s and Aspalls tried to convince us that more refined ciders (sometimes made with champagne yeast) were primed to replace wine and could and should be served from a champagne bottle into fluted glassware.

Eventually a mini craft movement emerged. Like the cottage industry that cider has always been, numerous smaller producers have launched, mainly found in their local areas, which is true craft really. Single orchard varieties, alongside vintages helped to introduce the concept of cider terroir to consumers.

And let’s not forget the new wave of let’s say, fashion ciders. Brands such as Grown (which describes its sleekly packaged ciders as ‘apple wines’) Sxollie Xider (which uses the marketing strapline ‘Cider that’s made like wine’) and Sassy are at the forefront of the modern wave of ciders. But even they aren’t doing much that’s new. Yes, we’ve seen the ‘cider is an apple wine approach’ before. However, at least brands such as Sassy with their bold artist and fashion designer collaborations on their packaging are helping to visually move the image of cider forward.

STAGNANT IMAGE PERCEPTIONS

And image does seem to be the problem. Walk into most pubs and you’ll still be confronted with a pretty standard range, from Strongbow on the taps, to Rekorderlig in the back-bar. Where is the excitement? In a way quite unlike spirits or beer, cider seems to have stood entirely still when it comes to revamping and reinventing itself for a new audience.

And that may be because its volumes have remained fairly comfortable. In its latest cider report released just last week, cider producer Westons revealed that

total cider volumes had grown 5.7% in 2022 vs 2021 (though you need to account for some lockdown weirdness there) to 705 million litres, and is now worth £2.95 billion, increasing in value by 27%. So, it may look like things are rosy.

But some of the faddier trends are dying down. And when it comes to looking for inspiration, they’re following not leading. Last year’s launch of a Blood Orange variant by Thatcher’s, with its bright orange liquid, was a clear play for the spritz market. That’s been a success, but where is the excitement and genuine innovation?

LACKING DISRUPTION

It’s fair to say what the category is lacking – what it has lacked for some time now – is some genuine disruption and a little excitement. And that may be a symptom of the category being largely owned by just a few major players. From Molson Coors to Heineken, most of the major brands belong to just a handful of producers. So for them, what is the incentive to – excuse the pun –rock the apple cart?

What cider will find though if it continues to stay still, is that its younger customers will age with brands and recruiting new ones will become ever harder. LDA drinkers need approachable flavours, sure. And increasingly, they need something that isn’t going to break the bank. Here cider wins. But image and visuals are more important than ever before and you could argue that there isn’t anything aspirational about a cider.

There certainly isn’t anything cool about the staid and cluttered packaging of most ciders either. For image conscious consumers that like the taste of cider, but are shopping visually, there’s few places for them to go. Add to this, cider doesn’t fit in younger drinker’s lifestyles the way it used to either. Many are sugar and calorie averse and here, cider isn’t the obvious option.

So, it’s an open goal. The opportunity is there for a brand to launch a cider that’s genuinely relevant to a new generation. Who is going to be the one to take a shot?

THE MEXICAN GOLD RUSH

WILL IT HAPPEN IN THE UK?

Brands are mining Mexican culinary traditions for new flavour combinations to sell overseas. From salt and lime beers to spicy tamarind, the past year or so has seen Mexican flavours added to everything from stouts to rums. While many of these brands claim Mexican heritage, an increasing number don’t. With Mexican-inspired flavours booming in the US, are we likely to ever see them here?

With the largest Mexican population outside of Mexico, it makes sense that the US has long drawn inspiration from its Southern neighbour. The relationship may have been fraught at times (there was that threat of ‘a wall’ remember), but from margaritas to Tex Mex, Mexican flavours have become an indelible part of US cuisine, and that applies increasingly to drinks.

It’s an apt time to be talking about it. It seems every May 5, drinks brands – whether they have connections to Mexico or not – want in on the celebration, launching new products and marketing activations for Cinco de Mayo. In the same way that St Patrick’s day has become a day to sink Guinness, the message behind the annual celebration of Mexico’s victory over the French in a key 1862

battle, seems to have become one of sinking some tequila, if the marketing activity of the past few years is to be believed. And this year has been no different. For example, the newly-launched rosé tequila, Celosa Tequila, went with the slogan ‘Pinko de Mayo’. Nice.

FROM MICHELADA’S TO AQUA FRESCAS

Timing their launches for the occasion, we’ve seen a raft of beverages launch in the US this week with Mexican flavours. Tapping into the growing Stateside trend for Michelada’s, Heineken-owned Mexican beer brand Dos Equis launched RTD Dos Equis Michelada, to offer the “authentic savory taste of the classic Mexican drink”. Booming in the US in recent years the serve combines tomato, lime, spice and a hint of salt, with beer. It also added non-alc beer, Dos Equis Lime & Salt ZERO and another RTD, Dos Equis Lime Margarita.

“As we continue to grow the Dos Equis portfolio, we are taking a look at what our customers are choosing to drink and creating products inspired

by those choices," said Ligia Patrocinio, senior brand director at Dos Equis for Heineken USA. Launched back in March, Mexican beer brand Modelo’s new line of Spiked Aguas Frescas were created specifically for the US market. Traditionally the Mexican drink blends fruit with water, lime juice and a bit of sweetener. Here, a malt base is used as a vehicle for some key flavour combos inspired by Mexican street markets. Made with real fruit juice, there’s Piña (Pineapple), Pepino y Limón (Cucumber-Lime), Sandia (Watermelon) and Flor de

As both hail from Mexican brands – and both are inspired by authentic Mexican serves – they stand apart from some of the other notable launches. Such is the demand and interest in the US, that more and more, other major drinks brands want in on the trend, from often unrelated categories.

MEXICANA

Step forward Pernod Ricard and its launch of a boldly Mexicaninspired addition to its Absolut vodka line, with a product made with smoky pineapple and chilli flavour. Designed to be drunk as a shot, it was initially aimed at Mexican Gen Z consumers.

Described as Mexican-inspired but with global appeal, Absolut Nights Smoky Piña launched in Mexico in January 2023, ahead of a wider international

rollout. Charl Bassil, global vice president marketing for Absolut said: “Borrowing from powerful tastes and designs of Mexico, we’re confident that Absolut Nights Smoky Pina will bring an exciting edge for partygoers looking to elevate their night.”

Brand new for May in the US is Bacardi’s Mango Chile, described as a blend of natural mango extracts, fiery chilli spice and white rum. Another product intended to be served as a shot, it’s inspired by the Mexican snack, says the brand. And just like the snack, the shot glass should be dusted with Tajín Clásico Seasoning, to get the ideal blend of sweet, spicy and tangy.

Maria Galis, Bacardi’s global innovations director, said: "We're so thrilled to bring Mango Chile to the US, especially after its knockout launch year in Mexico, which led Bacardi to become the top selling flavoured spirits portfolio in the country."

BUILDING MOMENTUM

Both launches follow previous efforts by producers such as Diageo to tap into flavours inspired by Mexican cuisine. Smirnoff Spicy Tamarind was first launched in Mexico, before a US expansion in late 2020. The product “has given us the ability to showcase the versatility of our spirit in ways that consumers are really connecting with” said Stephanie Shields Jacoby, senior vice president Smirnoff Global at Diageo. It was later launched in the US with a glow-in-the-dark candy skull adorned bottle.

about the beer representing “much of why we’re here in America,” but does mention its ideal food pairings are chips and salsa, guacamole, salad with grilled chicken and citrus vinaigrette.

HEADING THIS WAY?

So far, the market has form. Launch a product in Mexico and if successful, roll it out to US consumers who seemingly can’t get enough of all things spiced and citrussy. But so far very few of these innovations have made it to UK shores. While the tequila trend is booming and Mexican cuisine has been trending in the country for some years, the trickle-down effect has not yet led to Mexican flavoured drinks making a dent here. Most consumers won’t know what a Michelada is, for example. While in the US, countless packaged versions have been released in recent years, with many other serves already embedded in the culture.

Awareness of Mexican flavours in the UK is at an all-time high. But so far the wave of enthusiasm for them has extended only to food. In fact, its true to say that in the sequence of trend evolution for Mexican food and drink, we’re at the ‘premiumisation’ phase. While premium tequilas have been making increasing in-roads as the agave boom takes hold, premium Mexican restaurants with more authentic dishes, such as El Pastor, have also been gaining ground.

In early 2021 it also launched Guinness Salt & Lime Ale, the press release for which, was something to behold. It doesn’t mention Mexico and instead talks

According to the WSTA, the volume of tequila sold in the UK off-trade has grown by 83% in the past two years, with values up 94%. It credits a willingness of consumers to spend more on premium sipping spirits and a desire for new ways to appreciate the drink.

ACCESSIBLE SPICE

So, is the market ripe for some new serve suggestions? Though concertedly pushed for years and now made infinitely easier by the arrival of dedicated grapefruit flavoured mixers, there’s still a very low awareness of serves such as the Paloma. But where that serve takes a little explaining, flavour combinations such as lime and chilli, or mango and chilli absolutely do not. They are immediately understandable.

It's clear that consumer enthusiasm for all things either nostalgic or tropical is going to wane at some point; there’s only so many raspberry ripple ciders, or Eton mess liqueurs you can get through in one evening. And when they do, there’s going to be a vacancy.

Mexican-inspired flavours make a logical next step from the tropical trend, by adding a bit of spice, depth and different combinations to ingredients and lead flavours many are already purchasing, such as pineapple and mango. The tricky balancing act is going to be with branding. With many consumers already seeking premium Mexican products, anything that leans into regional design tropes

in an overly cartoony or stereotypical way may not be taken overly seriously as a product with staying power. Sure, consumers still want to have fun. But new launches in this space need to lead on their big, bold, but authentically Mexican flavours first if they’re to get consumer buy-in.

THE NEXT BIG THING IN GIN?

French wine may be the ultimate category when it comes to credibility; there’s few who are unaware of its long-held reputation as a region that produces some of the best liquids and vintages available. But can that extend to French gins? A number of new brands hope it might.

What happened to all the tequilas? Skip back over the past few years and the booming agave category has been where most drinks-curious celebs have planted their investments. And it probably isn’t because they’re passionate about tequila. Cha-ching!

So it’s been curious to watch how over the past few weeks there’s been a plethora of celeb gin launches. Gin, surely not?

YOU WAIT ALL DAY FOR A CELEB GIN...

Margot Robbie launched a bottled ode to her home nation with her brand Papa Salt Gin last week. In development for five years, it uses native Australian ingredients as botanicals, including oyster shells, roasted wattleseed and pink peppercorn. Makes sense.

Next up, we have Mr Brad Pitt. As we know, he’s had his foot in the drinks industry for many years with his wine brand, Château Miraval. Now – in partnership with former Tanqueray master distiller Tom Nichol, and Pitt’s previous winemaking partners, the Perrin

family of Château de Beaucastel in Southern Rhône – he has launched Gardener Gin. With “light aromas and flavours of the French Riviera” it aims to capture the sunlight, fresh citrus and wild herbs of the region with a liquid made with pink grapefruit, lemon and sweet and bitter oranges from the south of France.

And as much as gin, oddly, seems to be the liquid of the moment, France especially seems to be the next big thing when it comes to provenance. Harry Potter’s Hermione herself has also launched a French gin, again with links to winemaking.

INSPIRED BY WINEMAKING

Renais is a new gin brand from actress Emma Watson and her brother Alex. This time its inspired by the terroir and traditions of Chablis wine because the Watson’s family have a vineyard in the region. The spirit is combined with Kimmeridgian stone distillate (said to be responsible for the region’s terroir) and pressed Grand Cru grapes picked from high elevations, which gives the liquid a unique minerality and fruitiness.

Of the launch, Alex Watson said: “I wanted to do something that no-one had ever done: to capture the essence of a specific terroir, the uniqueness of

Chablis, by drawing on the traditions, techniques and ingredients from the land, and embodying those characteristics in a gin. Renais is our family’s love letter to Chablis, taking inspiration from the heritage of the region but combining it with an innovative and forward-thinking, yet sustainable approach to spirit making.”

THAT‘JE NE SAIS QUOI’

So why are we seeing so many French gins? For both Pitt and the Watsons, rooting their products in France gives them an authentic reason for creating their products. Both have long associations with France, and in particular the French wine industry. Being inspired to expand their portfolios to gin

doesn’t feel like an incredible, or tenuous stretch. And in both cases, but particularly for the Watson’s, tying their launch to both France and wine adds a little ready-made credibility. France’s place as a producer of some of the world’s finest wines is both well-known and undisputed. Therefore, both brands get to piggyback on that association of quality. And with British produced gins massively oversaturated, it’s also a shrewd choice for ensuring standout.

SHINY AND NOT SO NEW

Because right now, gin doesn’t seem like an obvious choice for ‘standing out’. These brands are joining a very, very crowded market. In the UK – one of the most competitive regions for gin – there’s over 1700 on the market. And according to the Office of National Statistics, there’s currently over 820 UK gin distilleries, growing by 110 from 2021 to 2022 alone.

And consumers may be getting restless. Data released by CGA in March 2022 revealed that sales decreased a whopping 38.5% compared to the same period in 2019. It’s not surprising in a category that has churned out product after product over the past ten years, for consumers to be a little bit overwhelmed by their options, or to have enjoyed the category for a time and then moved on.

Is the lure of a celeb name enough to draw them back? Is the differentiation of a French gin enough to interest them? That we’ll have to see. But both products are a welcome disruption to a market that has been flooded with flavoured or else ‘craft’ options in recent years. And Renais in particular offers an interesting new take by including wine terroir essentially, as part of its liquid. For gins, France is emerging as the next big thing in provenance, twinning association of quality with an aspirational and easy to visualise reference point for consumers, as well as brands, to tap in to.

THE EDIT

OUR PICK OF THE 5 MOST INTERESTING BRANDS THIS QUARTER

It is nearly impossible to keep abreast of every launch and every product in the market across categories, but we try our best. Here are the 5 stand out brands that we're watching with interest.

01

Saint Supply

For those of us who are willing to expand our view on what is and isn’t a drink, you may be interested in Saint Supply, one of a number of drinking oils that we're watching to see how the category unfolds. Based on thousands of years of deep knowledge and expertise, one thing is for sure, olive oil certainly helps with keeping us in good health.

Image source: Saint Supply Twitter

Ami Ami

Created to address mis-conceptions that boxed wine implies low quality, Ami Ami has created a range of boxed wine that not only tastes fantastic but look great to boot. By cutting down on packaging, they cut the carbon footprint of the product by over half, while staying fresh for six whole weeks from opening.

Maté Party

Maté Party is the latest in a long line of yerba mate drinks, aimed at finding new audiences for this natural energy drink. The team at Maté Party fell in love with yerba when they realised that it is a great option for night-time pleasure, being a natural mood lifter, providing clear-headed energy and acts as a great social lubricant.

Valet Reset

Not necessarily a new liquid brand but a supplement that claims to be formulated to reduce the side effects of alcohol consumption. With results that are validated by ‘real science people’, the researchers at Valet Reset claim that this is a ‘better way to drink’.

Brez

An exciting entrant into the ever-expanding nootropics drinks market. Brez is a micro-dosing hemp-derived drink where THC, CBD and Lions Mane harmonise to elevate every moment. Brighter colours, louder laughs, and tastier snacks are often reported.

CLIMATE CHANGE VINTAGES Are Here

Sustainable production and eco-friendly packaging often steal the headlines when it comes to drinks and climate change. But for consumers, they’ve been a smokescreen to the fact that the climate is already changing the way drinks taste. Now, brands are starting to make a selling point of these changes, being overt about their impact on the liquid. So, is climate change the new vintage?

Droughts, wildfires, storms, late harvests, early harvests, floods; you name it…the weather is getting increasingly wild, increasingly more often. It’s an acceleration of shifting weather patterns that has seen even regions that are unused to such dramatic events, be greatly impacted by them. And for those that were already prone to natural disasters and extreme weather, the perils are now occurring more often, or at totally unexpected times.

Over the past few weeks, it was rare and aggressive wildfires ripping through Halifax, Canada that helped turn the sky red over New York City. While in the Rocky Mountains, two days before the official start of summer, over 20cm fell on ski hills that would normally be gearing up to welcome mountain bikers. In the UK, this week it was revealed that our seas have received some of the most intense marine heat increases seen across the world, with a jump of 3 to 4°C above the average for this time of year. In short, that the weather is out of sync is becoming more and more evident.

DRINKS MAKERS SOUNDING THE ALARM

Drinks makers are already ringing the alarm bells about these dramatically changing conditions. Diageo has warned that water scarcity is threatening drinks production and is the most severe climate change-related threat to drinks makers. According to the company, it had 43 production sites in water-stressed regions across the world last year and has now set targets to replenish more water than it uses in these water-

challenged regions by 2026. With water making up 90% of a beer, and 60% of a spirit, it’s a challenge all drinks makers will be faced with.

However, some producers are already making climate change key to their liquids. California has long suffered from droughts. So perhaps it’s no surprise a Californian brewer has just teamed up with a water-recycling company to create a water-scarce beer. Well, that’s the sexy way of putting it. The less sexy way is to say Devil’s Canyon Brewing Company has worked with Epic Cleantec to create Epic OneWater Brew, a beer made from greywater collected from the showers, laundry and bathroom sinks in a San Francisco apartment building. Sadly, announced in May, it’s not for sale. It’s been produced to illustrate the possibilities, yet it is a fully drinkable, all-singing, all-dancing beer. However, it proves to other brewers exactly what’s possible.

MAKING CLIMATE CHANGE KEY TO NEW LIQUIDS

They’re not the first to rethink the quantities of water that beer demands in production. Two years ago, the Wild Beer Company created a beer that used no water at all in its recipe. In a collaboration with Brewgooder (a Scottish social enterprise on a mission to bring clean water to developing countries) the beer substituted water with whey, a by-product from a neighbouring dairy. The resulting beer, No Water, was aptly a milk stout.

WINE IS HAVING TO FIND A NEW PATH

But one of the most impacted industries from climate change is wine production. It’s not just droughts affecting its production. Many of the most prolific regions from Spain to Australia, California to Chile, are prone to and have been severely affected by wildfires too.

Smoke taint has become a huge issue for wine growers. Grapes exposed to smoke from nearby wine growers, absorb airborne compounds from burning wood, which then bind the sugars and molecules in the grape. Only once fermented do the grapes reveal an acidity, breaking down the sugars, and altering the taste profile. In fact, it’s said to give notes of chemicals, ashtrays, plastic and wet cigars. Yummy.

There are numerous projects now afoot to see if the taste can be removed, or even the wine repurposed. Australia’s Simon Tolley Wines has entered into a research project to see if these grapes can instead be repurposed to make spirits, namely smoke-flavoured brandy or gin. The work forms part of a bigger University of Adelaide project studying the effects of climate change on brandy production.

CLIMATE CHANGE IS THE NEW VINTAGE

However, things have gone a step further still. Are we facing an era that, in much the same way that vintages have long marked the changing weather conditions over years and years when it comes to wine, we will start seeing climate change used as a barometer too? LVMH thinks they might.

It’s striking that some of the most interesting climate change innovation has come from Ruinart, the oldest Champagne brand. Its latest launch is a conversation, it says, between “the challenges of an evolving climate, while maintaining the excellence of the Maison’s champagnes”. It is, it says, recrafting and readapting its winemaking process to meet the changing climate

To that end, it has launched its new Blanc Singulier cuvée, intended to reflect the major changes that are impacting its vineyards, which are higher average temperatures and increasingly early harvests. To let them tell it: “Cellar Master Frédéric Panaïotis and his teams have identified the emergence of new aromatic profiles linked to this new climate paradigm. These differences have in particular led to new balances between the aromatic profiles — fruity, floral, vegetal, spice — coupled with an intense expression and particularly powerful texture. Now Ruinart is revealing these new characteristics, adapting its savoir-faire while retaining the Maison’s distinctive signature, culminating in the creation of a cuvée named Blanc Singulier.”

FUTUREPROOF TASTE PROFILES

Perhaps the most radical take on adapting to climate change, liquid wise, the brand wants to let the “atypical climate profile of the year shape a distinctive aromatic expression”. It’s a bold but logical step forward. But it’s not just brands. Bartenders too are now creating menus that are a moment in time when it comes to ingredients. The Artesian bar’s Futureproof menu looks at

ingredients of the future, adding unlikely produce to classic serves, from soil in a dry martini, to sweet potato in a spritz. The ingredients it has identified and adapted for use, aims to showcase ingredients of the future.

Drinks makers preoccupation with the environment is perhaps late in its urgency. But for those producers at the forefront, there’s an emerging understanding that to take consumers on a journey with them and help them better understand the true impact of and increasing challenges that climate change presents, the story needs to be told through the liquid itself. Demonstrating climate change as a liquid profile, as a moment in time, will become an increasingly powerful tool for brands, and a vital source of innovation.

Image source: Artesian-bar

WHY IS EVERYTHING SO BORING?

Temperatures may be soaring, but the drinks market is currently anything but hot. Looking around, there’s a lot of launches, but nothing truly new. With innovation either lacking or so disparate, it’s unlikely to make a category changing impact. We ask, why is the drinks market currently so boring?

September babies. There’s always a tonne of them. Because for every couple having an Eastenders style show down on Christmas day, there’s ten more apparently that are getting it on before a log fire. Ideally. Maybe. You can hope. The fact remains that, whatever the circumstances, people feel so ‘creatively inspired’ to make some babies during the festivities, that September ranks consistently as the most populous month for birthdays.

So, looking backwards it was amidst the post lockdown haze, the first flurries of freedom, that many of the products now launching from some of the biggest global producers would have been conceived. It was also a period defined by spiking costs, an emerging then outright war in Europe, and general jitteriness that they were researched and developed. In that respect, is it any wonder that the market right now could be seen as being a little…discordant? Okay, boring. We can say it.

WHAT IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING?

Let’s look at the evidence. What do we see launching at the moment? RTDs continue to launch apace, but there doesn’t seem to be any consistency, key trends, or genuine innovation. Hard seltzer brands are still having a push. However, many of the brands launched in the UK in the heady summer of 2021 have already been retired from the market, leaving just a few ‘category leaders’ left. We can conclusively say that in its current form, Brits just don’t get it. Yet we don’t see the next iteration that they would understand yet emerging.

We also see some bottled cocktails launching. Which feels hardly worth mentioning. Nothing new to see here. And, good God, in a move that made us check we hadn’t hallucinated the past 25 years, and it wasn’t in fact still 1998, Hooch has just launched a new flavour. Knock me down with an RTD-heydey-shaped feather if that new flavour isn’t ‘Blue’. Hmmmmmmmmm. Moderation isn’t cool, yet

We also see more tentative steps to create a moderation movement, with half-strength ‘spirits’. A number of brands, from Hayman’s in the UK, to Cut Classics in the US, and East Pole in Australia, have attempted to build a category around mid-strength products. Giving a better-tasting option than many non-alcs (allegedly), a better sense of value, and a way for imbibers to fully participate in social occasions but in a lighter way, the concept totally makes sense. Yet, they’re still pretty obscure.

In the UK, Quarter seems to be the brand putting the most behind the category. It launched Quarter G/N in 2021, and this week has announced its second product, Quarter T/quila. At 12% ABV, the agave-based spirit is said to give “all the flavour and experience you would expect from a full-strength Tequila, without the consequences”. The brand team, including co-founder Fabian Clark, claims that the launch was developed after being begged by stockists, following the boom in tequila sales. It all makes sense, but shouldn’t we be seeing more action from other brands here? Where are the big boys?

Meanwhile, there’s actually not that much activity currently in non-alc spirits. High Point recently announced a rebrand

to Wavelength to better reflect its connections to the Cornish coast — and thus rooting the brand in a place and aspirational lifestyle — and that’s about it. Apart from some RTD launches. But, we’ve already seen plenty of those.

SUMMER SEASONALS

And there’s still soooooo many gins launching. The Cambridge Distillery’s stands out for interest, but at its heart, it’s still just a seasonal edition. The product, called Vintage 2022 Spring Summer does however spark a conversation on seasonality and terroir, and if these can be conveyed in a gin through different approaches to using botanicals. In this case the makers wanted to reflect the scorching heat of Summer 2022 using a “novo-dimensional distillation matrix” where temperature, time, and pressure were all adjusted individually for each botanical.

It's summer, so there’s new ciders. But guess what? Most seem to be ‘blush’, pink, berry flavoured ciders…of which we’ve seen plenty already.

APPEASEMENT, NOT RECRUITMENT

Most activity currently seems to be coming from whisky, and though there is some genuine innovation there, most of these are truly launches geared towards consumers who already love the stuff, and know a fair bit about it. They are not about recruitment. For example, English whisky brand White Peak has launched a new liquid called Alter Ego, distilled with alternate cut points to its Wire Works whiskies. These cuts are said to give more fruit and add a different nuance to its peated flavours.

Meanwhile, brands such as OakPacker (which is sold through global travel retail, as well as in the US) is looking to make some noise with the world’s first air-harvested whiskey. To unpack that for you, the American brand has infused the product with air-harvested water, or water collected from the atmosphere. It sounds cool, but we remember Hangar One’s Fog Point Vodka which gathered the fog of San Francisco to make it. And that was in 2016.

Indian spirits are perhaps one of the most interesting categories in development that we’re seeing genuine momentum behind. And perhaps, that’s because there’s a formidable amount of investment behind it. And therein lies the point.

THINKING PARALYSIS, OR A LACK OF COURAGE?

Have we reached thinking paralysis? Has innovation simply got stuck? How do we get ourselves out of this rut when brands are committed to playing safe with un-progressive launches? Category building takes big bucks and the backing of big brands.

Yet what we’re seeing at the moment are safe plays from the world’s leaders, whether that’s higher quality spiced rums (which have a proven market), seasonal gins (which have a proven market), flavoured gins, rums, vodkas et al (which have a proven market), bitter aperitifs (which have a proven market) accessible but premium tequilas (which have a proven and growing market), and aging, sourcing, and distillation experimentation in whiskies or else rebranding of storied brands to make them both cool and unisex (which obviously, have a proven market). No-one seems to be being courageous, offering something new, and moving the market forward.

And that’s a problem. Big brands need to back smaller innovations to truly build new categories, because consumers are fickle, and will get bored. While brands such as Quarter are out there, testing the market with mid-strength products, for example, it would take the launch of a mid-strength version of a well-known spirits brand to truly build awareness and recruit consumers to it.

Without a massive advertising budget, its incredibly hard to break through and tell consumers about your brand, especially when the liquid is genuinely new. And genuinely new is what is needed to recruit new drinkers, boost spend, and stave off a decline that is seeing alcohol-brands increasingly out of kilter with consumer’s changing lifestyles.

Maybe some of this thinking block, or at least, the tightening of the purse strings has something to do with the weird times we’ve all gone through, and hence during which many products currently hitting the market were developed. But if ever there was a time when boldness was needed, it is now.

And so, we wait.

SO UNCOOL, IT'S NOW COOL?

As Yorkshire Tea launches an unexpected summer ‘banger’ in a bid to reach the youth market, we ask has tea — the much-loved, but fairly unexciting beverage — finally tuned a corner when it comes to extending its appeal and updating its image?

It’s fun to google ‘young people and tea’. Among the numerous articles that promise to spill the proverbial tea in fact are a number either freaking out at the younger generation’s shunning of the stuff, or else hyped-up wellness pieces that espouse their deep love of it. ‘Are young people drinking more tea than booze?’ from 2023 and ‘Are young Brits falling out of love with the cuppa?’ from 2016 are just two of my favourites that encapsulate the gulf between these two opposing schools of thought.

What’s the answer to both, you ask? Well, the BBC (quoting PG Tips and Lipton owner Unilever) says that unfortunately Gen Z and millennials think the “traditional cuppa” is a bit meh. They prefer herbal teas and coffees instead. Meanwhile News 24 quotes brand new Mintel UK data to show that actually, more people than ever are choosing a cup of tea over booze. So, which do we believe?

TEA VS BOOZE

Well, the Mintel study is more recent, dating back to late 2022, and claims that 48% of British tea lovers say they sometimes drink tea as an alternative to alcohol, and that 49% of all Brits agree that tea is a good alcohol alternative. Furthermore, the largest age group to say so is those aged 26 to 41, with 55% saying they sometimes ditch booze for a cuppa, compared to 44% for those aged 65 and over.

Mintel says cost is the main motivator. Tea is now being seen as a treat, nay, an affordable luxury. Two in five have reduced their alcohol intake to save money. Whereas two-thirds (64%) of those swapping alcohol for tea believe that high-quality teas are an affordable treat.

A COMFORTING CONSTANT

Angharad Goode, Mintel Research Analyst, said: “Tea is a comforting constant for British consumers. After facing such an emotionally draining time during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with more uncertain times ahead amidst the growing pressures on household incomes, the image of tea as a little emotional pick-me-up is ever more relevant for brands to tap into.”

“The cost-of-living crisis will increase the appeal of this wellbeing boosting perception as consumers seek out emotional support during stressful times. While cost-saving efforts are on the rise, tea’s positive image and consumers turning to evenings in over out-of-home leisure, should go some way to drive demand for tea.”

A NEW DIRECTION

Which leads us to our next point and the reason we’re discussing tea right now, in the first place. Have you seen it yet? The relatable yoof-speak Yorkshire Tea advert? It’s about how one young lad — who honestly doesn’t look a day over 18 — just can’t be without his tea, especially it seems when he’s flying to Ibiza (budget airline, cabin baggage only, obvs) with the “amigos”. It’s funny how the annual trip to this Balearic island is one aspirational rite of passage for the young folk that seems to have endured. Wicked.

In it, against visuals — and fashion for that matter — that recall the days of acid house, our tealoving Gen Z-er sings a lengthy number about how he’d rather leave behind everything he actually needs for said holiday, in order to pack

Image source: Youtube

10kg of Yorkshire tea bags. Getting wasted out on the town in Beetha? Nah. “Sambucca: shot? Tequila: shot? Rather have a Yorkshire Tea in a teapot!” And instead of getting plastered, to chants of “down it, down it”, the lads shout “let’s get lightly caffeinated”.

A NOTABLE DEPARTURE

Apart from the obvious conclusion that someone at Yorkshire Tea has definitely seen this Mintel research, it’s an interesting departure from the brand’s long established, let’s say more mature campaigns, where Patrick Stewart conducted rousing leaving speeches to middle-aged office workers. The fact that Yorkshire Tea is taking an interest in, and marketing directly to this demographic means that something in the market has fundamentally changed.

Is tea now cool? Is tea coming back into its own for being comforting in times of strife? And in this world of spiralling costs, is it now becoming aspirational for its very affordability? Its relevance to a younger audience as a trusty, familiar and beloved alternative to booze seems to be what Yorkshire Tea is both trying to convey, and is tapping into.

But its status as something no less cool than an alcoholic drink... is that right? Is that how unfavourably younger people now view alcohol, and how highly they now see tea? That’s likely the deep wish of tea brands, who have been struggling for something new to say, to a new audience for some time. Have they suddenly found it?

The Mintel data of course points to a slightly older age group, but it also points to a fundamental shift in perceptions. It will be interesting to see if other ‘traditional’ tea brands follow suit and similarly launch outthere campaigns that market the most staid of drinks in most consumer’s repertoire, in an entirely new and unexpected way.

WHY IS GOLF BEING USED TO MARKET DRINKS ALL OF A SUDDEN?

Move aside hip hop. Stand down movie stars and Hollywood A-listers. Apparently the next culture and aspirational brand world being used to draw the trendy, the monied and to an extent, the youth, to a drinks brand is golf. Yes, golf. Though the sport has a long history and a staunchly loyal fanbase, it’s not something that could ever be accused of being even remotely cool. So why are a number of brands now using the sport to market their brands?

Tweed trousers. Long socks. Car parks full of Jaguar F-Types and XEs. Polite clapping. Tucked in, overly crisp polo shirts, sexless slacks, and those annoying bright white visors. Whatever comes to mind when you think of golf, none of it is remotely cool. We’re sure it’s, like, a really fun game to play and everything. But cool? Nah. Never. Sorry.

And yet, here we find ourselves, watching a number of drinks brands use the world of golf to tap into youth culture. Yes, you read that right. Don’t believe us? Standby.

Heard of Casa Azul? The tequila soda RTD launched first in August 2022, but more recently in March 2023, it added Casa Azul Organic Tequila to the range. Now, it has just announced a partnership with US Women’s Open Champion, Michelle Wie West. If you’re not well versed in the sport — and if you are, we’re sorry — the Asian American pro has won five LPGA titles, including the 2014 US Women's Open. Recently retired from the sport, she’s joined with Casa Azul to “introduce Casa Azul to a wider audience”.

The very standard statement from founder Lance Collins, on the partnership said: "Michelle represents the best of golf today and her exceptional talent, dedication, and global influence perfectly aligns with our brand's values and vision for the future."

A CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION

Next up, it’s funnily enough, another tequila brand. “Golf is undergoing a cultural transformation” according to a press release from Tequila Avión. But in a slightly confusing switch-up, it has partnered with professional basketball player Nick Young and former football wide receiver Victor Cruz, on a golf-centric campaign. It has launched a Caddie's Caddy

Kits, which includes golf course essentials “along with signature cocktails inspired by the famous golf enthusiasts”, featuring its Avión Reserva 44 Extra Añejo and Reserva Cristalino. Pitched at a millennial and above crowd, the packs are aimed at Father’s Day gifting.

However, the brand is still tapping into what it says is a new street-cred attached to golf, and is pushing to make itself a part of the game’s new traditions. To let the press release tell it: “Tequila Avión, an award-winning tequila that continues to redefine standards of quality and taste, is cementing its role within today's golf traditions with an elevated offering for golf lovers.”

OCCUPYING NEW SPACE

So, what the heck is it all about? Where is this new cool-factor, or street cred coming from? It’s notable that both brands have chosen partners that are far from the middle-class, or well-to-do older white male stereotype that for many years, the game has actively enforced. They’ll be those that deny it, but with exclusionary policies long in place across many of the most elite clubs, serving to gatekeep the game, it has traditionally and deliberately been the reserve of the few, not the many. It was only last year — LAST BLOODY YEAR — that championship course Muirfield allowed women to join its hitherto male-only Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Or to put it in a less stuck-up way, it only allowed women to join the club in 2022. Slow clap.

But according to that bastion of painfully cutting-edge coolness, Hypebeast, we’re all allowed to like golf now. It’s a shame that it’s

mood board for its assertion that ‘Golf Excites a New Generation of Enthusiasts With StreetwearMinded Fashion Brands’ is soooooo…how should we put this…sausage-heavy, but you know, one step at a time.

A GEN Z REVOLUTION

It espouses that: “The sport of golf is experiencing an evolution never seen before, especially amongst newer players and curious Gen Z enthusiasts. Names like Top Golf and Five Iron Golf have made the game more fun and accessible for casual players who want to play alongside friends and other beginners –think of arcade and bowling atmospheres but with golf.” Cool, cool. It points to a Netflix series, Full Swing, that shows Phoenix Open PGA Tour, a tournament unlike any other, for its “millennial fans, young players and non-stop party environment”.

And where the money and anyone that’s just about pre their first grey hair goes, the streetwear brands cynically follow. Again quoting a slightly hopeful Hypebeast: “These newer, more exciting versions of how golf is played is where the sport is heading and its reputation is shifting with the times in terms of inclusivity, accessibility and even its fashion identity.”

New streetwear-minded golf wear brands are injecting both youth and coolness, it says. Alongside this, the leaning-in of brands like Off-White and Louis Vuitton to golf wear-inspired garments has not gone unnoticed. Both brands have been edging their way closer to hip-hop, urban cool and frankly, black culture for some

years now. But this fusion of golf-inspired attire and streetwear is perhaps best encapsulated by Tyler the Creator. The rapper turned designer is known for his pretty fusion of streetwear and classic golfing garb with neat cardigans, pleated slacks, loafers and tank tops. He even has his own brand, Golf Le Fleur.

RADICAL EXCLUSION

There is something radical about ethnically diverse youth tapping into this staid, buttoned-up world, and occupying spaces that they haven’t hitherto been frankly either welcomed into or able to access. It’s a bold statement that reminds us of Ciroc’s recent campaign for Ciroc Honey Melon, which saw it reimagine that other bastion of WASP culture in the US, the Country Club.

Sean "Diddy" Combs placed the brand within “the new breed of country club”. Walking through the grounds of a club, bottle in hand, he proclaims it’s a match with champagne, while dressed in “money green” and urging viewers “let’s keep dreaming bigger”. Here within lies a bigger statement about the generational wealth country clubs, and golf clubs for that matter, have been bastions of.

According to the campaign’s press release: “The limited-edition flavor will launch with the ‘No Reservations Needed’ campaign, featuring visuals that portray a reimagined country club experience explored through the lens of a diverse group of young adults that challenge the concept of class and exclusivity in a modern world where everyone is invited.”

EVERYONE IS INVITED

It’s only in recent times, as some of the institutional barriers come down, and greater opportunity is afforded to more people, that many ethnic minorities are becoming able to build their generational wealth, and take up space in institutions that they were, and in some cases still are, actively kept from. Inhabiting them, and making them their own is the ultimate in aspirational lifestyle imagery as it demonstrates a massive power shift.

So is golf aspirational? Is it aspirational to a new, young, cool, energised and trendy audience? Yes. But for much more complex reasons than it simply looks good. The emergence of partnerships between tequila-brands — not what come to mind when you think of the game — and ethnically diverse sports stars is a sign that things are changing.

Golf’s instantly recognisable visual-style is already being used by fashion brands as a statement on who does and doesn’t belong in an elite world. Expect this visual world to be something an increasing number of drinks brands will attempt to tap into.

...TO COOL, COMPOSTABLE CREDIBILITY?

Time was that unless your home coffee machine was bean-to-cup, you’d be scoffed at. Though infinitely more accessible, compact and convenient for most people’s homes, pods were seen as being lesser quality, not to mention bad for the environment. However, in recent years there’s been an image overhaul of the pod market, with eco options, high-end producers and now, celebrities too. So, are pods finally cool?

Walking past what used to be the Nespresso store in St Pancras station the other day, the pale pink hoarding covering renovations had a message for passers-by. It read “We’re recycling the former Nespresso store into a new and improved one that’s better for the planet”. Grind’s cheeky pod advertising has been slowly spreading across London, with slogans such as “Doesn’t come with ready-made latte art, but we’re working on it” for some time.

Its mail order and subscription coffee business may have been born of Grind’s physical café business, but now things have come full circle. Such is the success of its pods for home coffee machines, that they now have their own store; a standalone emporium with a window filled with its upturned compostable pods, which – to really hammer home that they’re the first in the UK to make homecompostable coffee pods – are being used as plant pots. It even has the world’s first composting live stream. Who knew composting would one day be cool?

There’s no doubt that brands such as Grind have helped to finally bring the cool factor, a fresh take, and FINALLY some innovation to a category that sorely needed it. Whereas pioneers Nespresso introduced consumers to the concept, first launching in the 1980s to bring consumers baristaquality at home, there hasn’t been much innovation in pods since. In fact Nespresso’s USP was what was at the time a premium aluminium pod, and seemingly endless coffee varietals. But with every supermarket and indeed coffee shop launching a me-too brand, it hasn’t had the edge for some time. Also, George Clooney is great, sure, but those that regard him as a heartthrob generally remember the days of dial-up internet, so…. there’s that. We’re not scoffing; we remember those days too.

THE FOURTH WAVE HAS TO BE FUN

The growing affordability of machines, the increasing unaffordability of frequent purchases from coffee shops, and the shift to greater at-home consumption during and post-pandemic have all been helpful in building a bourgeoning market for pods. So beyond not killing the planet (Grind has grabbed that one) how to truly innovate?]

Like Grind, there’s a number of brands globally looking to bring a cheekier, younger and crucially eco approach to pods, and making the experience of shopping for them, way more fun. Singaporebased brand No Harm Done says its tapping into the new ‘fourth wave’ of coffee with its products. During the third wave of the 2000s, consumers became more aware of what good coffee is. During the fourth wave, with quality now a given

consumers want to have some fun, says the brand, with products presented in a more light-hearted manner. New flavours are a part of this, it says.

In a brand overhaul, it replaced its westernstyle flavours last year, with more locally inspired and locally grown coffees with an Asian-spin. They include Gula Melaka Kopi (with caramelised coconut sugar), and Choco Kopi (coffee with a chocolate infusion). Its pods are also fully compostable.

UH OH, THE CELEBS ARE HERE

Is the true sign that a category is on the up when a celebrity arrives, much like when a Starbucks arrives on your local slightly-crap shopping street? I mean, it’s not that they’re a shining endorsement, but it

does mean that they smell money. Which is good. YouTube darling Emma Chamberlain, has recently expanded her Gen-Z coffee brand to include pods. Surely that’s a category endorsement? Of course, they’re compostable. Chamberlain Coffee launched in 2020, but the pods were only added in late 2022. In common with No Harm Done and Grind, the packaging is bold, colourful and playful, aimed at speaking directly to a Gen Z consumer who yes, wants the best quality coffee they can get… thank you very much, but isn’t taking life too seriously. And they want to save the planet too. Or at least, f*ck it up a little less.

MAKING AN ACHILLES HEEL A SELLING POINT

Turning what was once a detriment – their packaging – into a huge selling point has become a savvy talking point for these brands. Ironically, it’s something that has helped it speak Gen-Z’s (and others) language, making pods a credible way to consume coffee at-home, in a way that instant coffee has never been able to be.

Beyond the environment, let’s not forget also that at its heart coffee is about rituals. It’s about that much needed first cup of the day, it’s about that cleansing 11 am cuppa, and it’s very much about the process of making it. Instant may be convenient, but its always lacked the quality cues of other formats. Pods not only offer a fresher product, more akin to the quality consumers have grown used to paying coffee shops a premium for. But they also more closely replicate the process of making a good coffee. Pod machines may only require you to fill them and press a button – just like a kettle, really

– but their screaming, whirring, steaming fanfare as hot water is pushed through the pod somehow feels much more barista-like.

That’s right, the success of pods is all about appearances. And now a flurry of brands have proved they can be cool, there will of course be more that follow. Expect hip, well-designed brands speaking to consumers in causal, lighthearted ways. Expect functional brands that offer more benefits beyond a caffeine hit. Expect brands that profile local flavours and preferences. Expect producers to more closely highlight their connections with growing regions, individual farms and communities. And of course, now that they’re cool, expect more celebrities to join in.

What’s the golden rule for new pod brands looking to claim a share of the market? In the fourth wave of coffee – but arguably only the second wave of coffee pods – brands need to look good, taste good and do good, to stand out.

Image source: Chamberlain Coffee website

LIQUID FOUNDERS

Jeremy Knight

Ernie Coffee

HOW HAS THE COFFEE INDUSTRY CHANGED OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS?

Consumers are far more demanding of their coffee and the quality and origin play a key role in their decision-making process. Coffee-drinkers have also become increasingly more aware of the impact of coffee miles and coffee production, along with the sustainability and ethical issues around the industry. At the same time consumers are also into trying so many new things, and brand loyalty is a thing of the past. If you can’t keep your consumers engaged and entertained at all times, it becomes ever more difficult to stay relevant.

WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE FUTURE OF THE COFFEE INDUSTRY?

For us at Ernie we won’t have a future unless we innovate our product offering and service to delight our customers and work tirelessly to reduce our carbon footprint to the extent that we don’t have one. Our brand is so much more than just its focus on sustainability, but it is key that this is at the heart of our product and service offering. We need to evangelise this message through everything we do.

WHAT DO YOU DO DIFFERENTLY AT ERNIE TO OTHER COFFEE COMPANIES OUT THERE?

We are the first non-packaging, carbon free delivery coffee company, specifically focused on London businesses who care as passionately as we do about doing the right thing. Of course our coffee itself is fantastic: we can trace it along every step of its journey from farm to our London roastery, right until it arrives at our customers’ premises. We record all the savings our customers make by signing up to Ernie and share this with them on their own dedicated carbon-free website portal, so employees and shareholders alike can see the difference they are making to the planet as an organisation.

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE KEY TO THE LONG-TERM SUCCESS OF YOUR BUSINESS?

Great tasting, ethical coffee delivered with zero negative impact on our planet!

WHAT IS THE BEST THING AND THE WORST THING ABOUT BEING AN INDEPENDENT COFFEE BRAND OWNER?

The coffee industry is probably one of the most competitive consumer businesses there is and that’s why at Ernie we focus on supplying coffee to businesses. The best thing is our independence… it means we can make a huge impact on the level of product and service we provide versus our competitors. The biggest challenge to overcome is the prejudice of workplace coffee being the lowest common denominator and of questionable quality.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO AN ENTREPRENEUR LOOKING TO START A COFFEE BRAND?

Just do it. The coffee business is tough, but there will always be room for dynamic and innovative brands that are looking to do things differently. For us, the more brands there are in the industry the better it is for consumers. Just remember to keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground and what could possibly go wrong!

Summer 2023

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