Food and beverage product trends: Drink mixers
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EmailHome drink consumption by 22-44 year old’s gives opportunity for beverage mixers that can be paired with wine and beer, used for relaxing evenings and brunch, or offer the familiar coffee and tea drinks of choice.
The goal of specialty food and beverage artisan commercial manufacturers is to create a niche product that serves a specific market to increase wholesale product sales. Mintel, the world’s leading market intelligence agency, weighs on the market for alcoholic beverage mixers.
According to Mintel’s US September 2017 report entitled Alcoholic Beverage Mixers, only 25 percent of consumers ages 22+ drink cocktails at home with tropical cocktails leading consumption at 15 percent. Specifically, Mintel points to those 24-34 as the top market and those 35-44 as a close second market. Mintel found that slightly over a third of these consumers who drink cocktails or mixed drinks at home use mixers. Women and consumers under the age of 45 are the target market for manufacturers wanting to address this market. Mintel points to refrigerated liquid mixers to boost the perception that they are a quality and fresh product.
In addition, Mintel reported that “beer and wine lead for alcohol consumption at home, suggesting opportunity for mixers to pair with these products”, says Mintel. Two areas of mixer ingredients that Mintel points to are coffee and tea, saying “the strong growth seen in coffee and tea markets suggest that developing and promoting mixers that feature these ingredients should resonate among a target consumer group for cocktail/mixed drinks”.
When looking at the Mintel U.S. March, 2018 report entitled Alcoholic Beverage Drinking Occasions, Brunch is reported to be a drinking occasion by 49 percent of the respondents, giving beverage manufacturers yet another occasion to design mixers for.
As beverage manufacturers work to design and market new products, perhaps they want to consider the March, 2018 report that notes “beer is strongly associated with casual occasions and sports, while spirits and sparkling wine have a strong association with celebration”.
The MSU Product Center, in partnership with Michigan State University Extension, provides business counseling for product development and marketing strategies that will help Michigan entrepreneurs commercialize high-value, consumer–responsive food products. For more information, visit the MSU Product Center website or call 517-432-8750.
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