The days of the pre-lunch cocktail followed by the bottle of wine at lunch, followed by a chaser, are well and truly over. The peak of alcohol consumption came in 2012 and it’s fallen 25% since then. Not only are people drinking less alcohol than ever before, but many people now see any amount of alcohol as being bad for them. 

What happened?

In this insightful episode, Lulie Halstead and Felicity Carter look at the impact of technology, the rise of health and wellness trends, and the emergence of the sober curious movement. They also discuss the rise of the No- and Low-Alcohol category and ask whether it has a future or is just a momentary trend.

And they dive into controversial questions about just how bad (or not) alcohol really is, and look at the impact of health lobby messaging. You might want a drink in hand as you listen.

[00:01:55] Global Alcohol Consumption Decline Since 2012, it’s all been downhill.

[00:04:32] The Impact of Technology How a new gadget hit the market and had an unexpected impact on alcohol consumption.

[00:05:50] The Rise of Zebra Striping The hosts explore how the sober curious movement and the new trend of zebra striping are changing drinking habits.

[00:17:06] Conflicting Research on Safe Alcohol Levels The discussion highlights conflicting research and the controversy around the claim there is no safe level of alcohol.

[00:27:40] The Future of the Drinks Market With so much changing so fast, where to from here?

Meet Your Hosts:

Lulie Halstead founded and led international consumer research and strategy consultancy Wine Intelligence, and led it to a successful PE exit. Today she is a renowned global beverage alcohol and wine sector specialist, focused on consumer behaviour, strategy, retail and hospitality. An accomplished keynote speaker, she has spoken at more than 70 international events over the past 20 years.Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

Why do we drink what we do? And why are we drinking different wines than we did 30 years ago?

Lulie Halstead and Felicity Carter do a deep dive into why the wine rack looks very different than it once did. But what is a wine style and who determines it?

And who gets to decide what we drink? It turns out the answer involves changes in technology, fashion and even what looks good on Instagram.

In the course of the discussion they roam over academic research, popular culture, the role of celebrities and critics, and even whether there really is more choice on the shelf, or whether it’s an illusion.

Included in this episode:

[1:00] All about the hidden side of the drinks market.

[14:00] How wine styles are classified.

[19:00] The unexpected role of technology.

[32:00] The influence of the critics and whether their judgements are still important or not.

Meet Your Hosts:

Lulie Halstead founded and led international consumer research and strategy consultancy Wine Intelligence, and led it to a successful PE exit. Today she is a renowned global beverage alcohol and wine sector specialist, focused on consumer behaviour, strategy, retail and hospitality. An accomplished keynote speaker, she has spoken at more than 70 international events over the past 20 years.

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly. 

Gin may have started life as a medicine for heartburn, but it became so popular, it turned into an instrument of mayhem and murder.

Hosts Lulie Halstead and Felicity Carter delve into the fascinating world of gin to explore the question of how this one drink shaped history —and what has driven the contemporary gin craze. The discussion then explores the role of tonic water and its connection to the expansion of the British Empire.

And then the question comes round to the current boom in non-alcoholic versions. Can they last? And why did gin never take off in the US market, despite its popularity elsewhere? Like no other, gin illustrates how history and culture shape our drinks choices.

This episode includes:

(00:08:28) The role of the botanicals and where they come from.

(00:21:00) How the 18-th century gin craze led to murder and governmental crackdowns.

(00:27:00) How two entrepreneurs changed the law and kickstarted the modern gin boom.

(00:24:52) The role of tonic water in the colonial expansion of the British Empire.

Meet Your Hosts:

Lulie Halstead founded and led international consumer research and strategy consultancy Wine Intelligence, and led it to a successful PE exit. Today she is a renowned global beverage alcohol and wine sector specialist, focused on consumer behaviour, strategy, retail and hospitality. An accomplished keynote speaker, she has spoken at more than 70 international events over the past 20 years.

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly. 

Join Lulie Halstead and Felicity Carter as they unpack the complex world of wine scores, medals, and critics, asking where they come from and why the results can be so different between competitions and critics. Then they move into the history of wine criticism and the impact of figures like American wine critic Robert Parker, who changed the market.

They also unpack the psychological and sociological factors that affect consumer perceptions of wine, to find out what consumers think about it all. And they discover a surprising truth about what drives people to choose one wine over another.

And they answer the question — do those little gold dots on bottles of wine count for anything?

In this episode:

[00:05:19] How the emergence of Robert Parker and his 100-point scoring system significantly changed wine criticism.

[00:10:22] An insider’s look at how wine competitions across the world use different judging systems and get very different results, from Australia to Europe.

[00:24:27] How taste in wine is influenced by social class — and how awards and medals tap into “social capital”.

[00:26:52] How awards and medals act as a heuristic, helping consumers make quicker decisions.

[00:30:33] Where awards and medals sit in the hierarchy of choice.

Meet Your Hosts:

Lulie Halstead founded and led international consumer research and strategy consultancy Wine Intelligence, and led it to a successful PE exit. Today she is a renowned global beverage alcohol and wine sector specialist, focused on consumer behaviour, strategy, retail and hospitality. An accomplished keynote speaker, she has spoken at more than 70 international events over the past 20 years.

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly. 

Why do we drink what we do? Why do some drinks catch fire for a time, and then spend decades at the back of the cupboard? And how do some drinks become classics? In this engaging podcast, drinks data maven Lulie Halstead joints drinks writer and researcher Felicity Carter on a journey into the world of drinks. Along the way, they discover that what's in the glass is more than a drink — it's a representation of cultural, technological and social shifts.