In this week’s Podcast we’re looking back at The Spirits Business predictions from last year to see how they did. We then look at what we see as 2020’s most likely trends and give our own predictions.

The Spirits Business 2019 Predictions

The cocktail trends to watch in 2019

* Sherry Based Cocktails* Simplifying Serves* Closing the loop (reducing and re-using waste)* Its ok not to be ok – Healthy Hospitality* Fermentation Experimentation

In general, The Spirits Business did a great job with their predictions here, if they were a little safe and generally looking at things continuing over beginning.

BartenderHQ’s 2020 Bar Industry Predictions

Low & No Cocktail Serves

Though these have been mentioned for years, there seems to be real momentum this year based on what is being released. While we’re not sure that the public is demanding these as much as the industry pushing them, it looks like they’ll gain more ground in 2020.

While many of the alcohol replacement products on the market are not great, they are improving. Our view is that creating and developing other alcohol free categories will be better received than creating alcohol free spirits.

More Customer Focused Menus

Following on from more simple menus in last year’s predictions, we believe bars will focus more heavily on well known drinks made with high quality ingredients.

Low Calorie Mixers & Cocktails

Along with the increased consumer awareness of calories in drinks and health awareness, we predict greater ranges of low calorie tonics including flavour ranges, and zero calorie syrups

Return to Commercial Ingredients Where Quality Exists

We also see many bars using commercially available ingredients to reduce labour costs (especially with rises in hourly rates). This will allow more consistency and reducing operating costs for many bars. The commercial producers are now making far better product than in the past.