At InterBev last month, I attended an educational session about alcohol trends called “Where did my drink go?” presented by Nik Modi, managing director at RBC Capital Markets, New York.
Hard ciders were popular in the United Kingdom for years before reaching the mainstream U.S. market. Likewise, stevia was used as a sweetener in Japan for decades before getting approval as a safe food additive in the United States in the form of Rebaudioside A, according to Cargill. Many trends are born overseas and eventually make their way to the U.S. market. But that doesn’t mean Americans can’t be trendsetters too.
Beam Inc. introduced Canadian Club Dock No. 57, which is a blackberry-flavored whisky designed to help bring younger consumers of legal drinking age into the whisky category.