This year we joined a lot of people in the drinks industry and visited a number of trade shows: Prowein in Dusseldorf, Imbibe in London and Bar Convent in Berlin. It was not only a great opportunity to catch up with clients, such as Amber Beverages and Ian Macleod Distillers, but meet people we’ve been talking to online - in person. It was also a chance to gauge the mood of the industry, and if Berlin was the most recent indicator, then the mood was good and upbeat.
As always with these shows you see different levels of stand investment and presence. In Berlin Kraken’s stand had large scale inflatable tentacles while Cognac Meukow’s stand was the epitome of Gallic chic. Two tequila brands caught our eye. Rooster Rojo, who we’ve worked with on a global communication platform in 2021/22, had a stand strong on visual stand-out and Cazcabel’s drinks shack was strong on character.
Innovation, No-Lo and Brand Building
Imbibe and BCB in particular illustrated a number of trends in the drinks category. First, the innovation in the category, both from large and small brands. At the show me met with Wattshot, “the world’s first gin shot” and tried Rooster Rojo’s new smoked variant Ahumado and these are just two instances of dynamism in the drinks category. Since returning we’ve read about The Macallan Harmony Collection’s two new coffee inspired expressions and Johnnie Walker Blonde.
Secondly, there were a number of No-Lo brands at the shows, such as Crossip and Nona and it’s clear this sector of the drinks category is going to grow significantly. In January 2022 The Spirits Business reported that “IWSR forecasts that no- and low-alcohol volume will rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 8% between 2021 and 2025, outpacing alcohol volume growth by more than 0.7% CAGR over the four- year period. The data comes from the 2022 IWSR No- and Low-Alcohol Strategic Study, which examined 10 core markets: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Spain, the UK, and the US. The market value of the no-and-low sector in 2021 in the 10 markets reached just under US$10 billion, up by 6% from US$7.8bn in 2018. The category now has a 3.5% volume share of the total alcohol sector”.
Thirdly, we saw one stand at BCB with a sign saying ‘Distributors Wanted’ and this highlights the challenge new brands face. There are many new highly crafted brands entering the market across all drinks categories, which just adds to the levels of competition, and securing distribution seems to be one of the key challenges facing new entrants. What we’ve learnt is that a brand may have the finest liquid in the world in the most beautiful packaging but it needs to have a brand-building strategy in place before speaking to any distributor.
Packaging as the Embodiment of the Brand
One of the reasons we visit trade shows is to keep abreast of developments in the industry and look at what is happening from a design perspective. Several brands stood out for us this year.
Nixta Licor de Elote (https://nixtalicor.com/en/home/) is a Mexican corn liqueur made from a base of tender, ancestral cacahuazintle maize, grown in the high valleys and foothills of the Nevado de Toluca volcano. It’s produced at the Destilería y Bodega Abasolo, where the distillers “honour the Mexican culture of corn and the ancestral craft of nixtamalization-a 4,000-year-old Mesoamerican cooking technique that uncovers the deepest flavours and aromas of maize”. In the mouth Nixta has a rich, syrupy feel with the flavour of sweet and roasted corn coming through strongly. It’s primarily used as a mixer in cocktails. Its botte is eye-catching and the perfect embodiment of the brand. The design is inspired by the glass forms found in early 20th-century Mexican neighbourhood markets, and crate labels of the same period.
Rejuvenating a French Classic
Laballe’s packaging (https://boutique.laballe.fr/en/) is distinctive but in a different way. Armagnac packaging is typically quite traditional in terms of its bottle shapes and packaging graphics. So Laballe’s packaging stands out because of its modernity. Its bottle style is more contemporary, as is its label design and the choice of cap colour. The brainchild of Cyril and Julie Laballe the 3-12-21 range combines innovation with know-how and tradition and is targeted at younger consumers. The packaging is therefore an overt sign of the Laballe’s goal of rejuvenating the oldest of the French alcohols.
Sustainability as Part of a Brand’s DNA
Sustainability is very much on the agenda of drinks producers today, with new initiatives being announced weekly. Diageo, for example, have just launched a new Johnnie Walker Black Label printed with Air-ink (ink made from air pollution). It’s a key component of the brand Dutch Barn Vodka (https://dutchbarn.com) whose aim in its own words is “to make the best vodka in the world and do it in the most sustainable and ethical manner”. One manifestation of this desire is the brand’s packaging. Its brown bottle was chosen as it’s made with a higher percentage of recycled glass, uses fewer virgin materials and is scientifically proven to protect the delicate flavour of the vodka. The bottle, sourced from the Yorkshire company Beatson Clark, is lightweight. Altogether, its tells a rich story of manufacturing, transportation and energy savings, and recyclability.
Personality to the Fore
Walking by Piero Gin’s stand (www.pierodrygin.com) we couldn’t help noticing the similarity between a cool guy manning the stand and the brandmarque on the packaging on display. It turns out it was indeed based on Gianpiero Giuliano’s distinctive profile. Talking with Gianpiero it soon became clear that the gin benefits from his passion and infectious personality. Of course, few consumers get to experience this first-hand, but the packaging embodies the man and his approach, right down to the tantalising secret ingredient listed on the bottle label.
Stand Out: In Store and on the Back Bar
One of the consistent features of the packaging briefs we get is to achieve shelf stand-out instore and on a back-bar and it’s got to be said that it’s very difficult to ignore JJs Manöverschluck (www.manoeverschluck.de). Created by individuals who love sailing it’s not hard to see where the inspiration for the bottle’s colour come from, namely buoys. Moreover, the brandmarque encapsulates the brand’s name, being comprised of a sailing manoeuvre.
Premiumisation
Lastly, having met the Natterjack Whisky team at Prowein it was good to meet them again at BCB. Natterjack’s packaging (www.natterjack.com) is unquestionably arresting with its large toad and it was interesting to see how they’d embellished it with a metal 3D Natterjack, courtesy of Apholos (www.apholos.com). This new element gives their bottle more of a tactile quality in the hand. The use of such devices might increase over time as brands premiumise and more producers decide to dispense with gift cartons as Diageo has done on some of its brands and Pernod Ricard India has done on its brands.
Seven Principles of Desire
For a number of years Sedley Place has been developing drinks brands based on its Seven Principles of Desire; namely, positive heritage, authenticity, exclusivity, purpose, single-mindedness, detail and distinctiveness. Talking to different drinks producers about their brands at the three shows has reinforced our belief in the value of these principles, and the brands featured above all illustrate these principles in action. For example, Nixta is the epitome of authenticity, Piero Gin of detail and Natterjack distinctiveness.
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