The quest to perfect and expand on traditional offerings continues to evolve as witnessed by national cocktail competitions, happy hours and step-by-step recipes on websites and cocktail chatbots, which are furthering consumers’ fascination and enjoyment of cocktails at home and on-premise.

Classic with a twist, similar but different, bar operators are venturing beyond the standard gin and tonic.

Because many consumers use social media to connect with brands and vice versa, beverage companies are engaging with fans on a variety of digital and social media platforms.

Increasing the array of channels, devices and platforms that splinter mass communication into the thousands of niche outlets, allows brands to cater to specific audiences.

In the battle to compete, many manufacturers joined the energy shots segment, creating an entire sub-category.

Beverage companies and foodservice outlets are employing digital marketing efforts, expanding clean-label offerings and sourcing locally to reach the millennial generation.

In a recent Beverage Industry Special Report, the publication highlighted the impact that millennials are having on the U.S. market. Brand owners are no stranger to the growing influence this demographic is having and are making concerted efforts to stay on top of the latest trends associated with millennials.

Although the carbonated soft drink (CSD) market penetrates approximately 90 percent of consumer households, the mature beverage category has struggled due to declining sales across nearly every segment.

Millennials are driving many trends in the beverage industry, and as this demographics’ influence continues to grow, it’s important that beverage-makers understand which categories are garnering the most attention from these consumers.

The company, which is targeted toward the millennial consumer demographic, is aiming to achieve national distribution and continually is forging new partnerships to achieve that goal.