Growing interest in olive oil calls for more consumer education.

Olive oil has ridden a wave of increasing popularity, in part due to growing awareness around the healthfulness of the Mediterranean Diet.

However, the product also remains broadly misunderstood because of misconceptions about its appropriate uses and recurring reports about olive oil that is “counterfeit” or improperly labeled as “extra virgin” when it’s not.

This year the category faces additional challenges because of a weak olive harvest in some parts of the world, which could drive increased prices and more unscrupulous producers to distribute adulterated olive oils or “fake” extra virgin olive oil.

“There’s been a lot of bad press about olive oil,” says Brett Greenberg, a certified olive oil sommelier and the business development manager for private label at New York-based FoodMatch, a specialty food producer and importer that focuses on Mediterranean foods. “While it was great to highlight to the public what’s going on, I think [the negative coverage] almost made consumers feel as though all imported olive oil is going to be adulterated and is not to be trusted.”

Retail sales of olive oil in the U.S. have been increasing steadily for the last several years, according to data from Nielsen. Through the 52 weeks ending Feb. 23, 2019, sales totaled about $1.21 billion, compared with $1.19 billion in the preceding 52-week span.

Dollar sales increased at a compound annual rate of 2.5 percent over the past three years, Nielsen reported. Unit volume, by contrast, increased at a slower, 0.4 percent rate in that time. Unit volume was basically flat in the most recent 52-week span, after a slight decline in the 52 weeks ending Feb. 24, 2018, compared with the preceding year.

This year sales appear poised to be more tumultuous, with some observers already reporting price increases due to olive crop shortfalls in some parts of the world.

Last fall’s olive harvest was one of the weakest on record for Italy, which saw production drop by more than 50 percent from 2017 levels, according to the Olive Oil Times. In addition to problems related to climate, and to the fact that olive trees naturally alternate between high-yield and low-yield seasons, Italy’s crop is also being hurt by an infestation of Xylella fastidiosa bacterium, which has killed millions of trees in the southern region of Puglia since it first appeared there about five years ago.

Greece, which is normally the third largest producer behind Spain and Italy, also had a weak harvest in 2018. Those decreases will be partially offset by a strong growing season in Spain, the world’s number-one producer, but the shortfall was already driving up prices for Italian olives by 30 percent or more early this year, according to reports. Those higher costs could lead some producers to dilute their Italian and Greek olive oils with oil from Tunisia or other sources, according to some reports.

Educating Consumers
Salvatore Russo-Tiesi, general manager at Italian olive oil importer Bono USA, says retailers can help consumers understand the forces behind olive oil pricing by teaching them about where olive oil comes from and how it’s made.

“That really helps to soften the impact of any ‘sticker shock’ that a customer sees when shopping for their favorite olive oil,” he says, although he notes that Bono USA was not increasing its prices this year.

While olive oil connoisseurs understand the seasonality of the crop, the importance of freshness and the flavors produced by various specific cultivars, regions, and estates, industry experts note there’s plenty of room to further educate the many mainstream consumers who have adopted olive oil for its health properties or because they like the flavor in general.

“The general consumer is still confused,” says Greenberg of FoodMatch, especially when it comes to extra virgin olive oils.

“Similar to wine, you can be overwhelmed,” he says. “Most people go into a wine shop and end up picking a label that catches their eye and that’s in the right price range.”

Similarly, everyday olive oil shoppers must sort through an array of attributes and claims, from country of origin to monocultivars that are made from a single olive variety. Many customers simply don’t know what the most important characteristics to look for are.

Customers rely on retailers to help make sense of these attributes and claims, Greenberg says.

Russo-Tiesi says his company has a “hand-in-hand” relationship with retailers to help educate consumers.

“The buyer must understand what they are doing in order to put the right product on the shelf, but it’s equally, if not more important, that the final consumer knows what they’re purchasing,” he says.

Importance of Freshness
Among the basic qualities that retailers can help their consumers understand is the importance of freshness, says Greenberg of FoodMatch.

Olives are a fruit, and olive oil is essentially pressed fruit juice, he explains, and it is meant to be consumed as fresh as possible—not more than 18-24 months after it has been processed. The harvest in the Northern Hemisphere begins in the fall, and in general, the earlier the olives are harvested, the better.

The highest quality, extra virgin olive oils are cold-pressed from the earliest harvest, without the use of heat, which can decrease both the flavor and the healthful properties of the oil. Olive oil that does not meet the flavor and other standards of EVOO can be refined and used to make regular or other lesser grades of olive oil, which are more suitable for use in cooking.

Although heating the olives and using olives that have ripened for a longer period of time increases the yield of oil that they generate, the oil is considered inferior to oil that is made from green, cold-pressed olives.

In addition, various factors can impact the shelf life of olive oil once it has been bottled—especially exposure to heat, air, and light, which is why olive oil is usually packaged in tins or in
dark glass bottles.

Like many specialty olive oil distributors, FoodMatch focuses on sourcing olives from a single region. Its Renieris Estate extra virgin olive oil features olives that are grown, crushed, and bottled by the Renieris family in Chania on the Greek island of Crete.

“It’s a fourth-generation, family-run business, and the mill is on-site, so it’s fully integrated,” says Greenberg.

Renieris Estate uses olives of the Koroneiki cultivar, which is known for producing olive oils and has been grown in Greece for thousands of years.

In order to highlight these attributes, the Renieris Estate oil includes labeling specifying its place of origin and its estate-bottled status.

Russo-Tiesi of Bono USA says that retailers and consumers should also be looking for olive oils that have Protected Designation of Origin or Protected Geographic Indication certification, two European seals that are verified by third parties to prove the origin claims of olive oil and other agricultural products.

“If you really want the best, highest quality, most authentic product, you need to purchase a PDO or PGI product, and they are very easy to find on the shelf because they have a very unique logo on the label,” he says.

While those designations apply to European olive oils, other regions, including California, Australia, and South America, also produce olive oils that have gained some international acclaim.

Rachel Shemirani, vice president of marketing at Barons Market, a seven-store retailer based in Poway, Calif., says the chain has seen an increased interest from its customers in California olive oils, among others.

“It really used to be all about Italian or Greek olive oils, but now we’re getting more requests for California olive oil, and we just brought in an olive oil from Australia that people are really loving,” she says. “Country of origin is still important, but now people are more open to different countries and different areas.”

Promoting Olive Oil

Sara Baer-Sinnott, president of Oldways, a nonprofit food and nutrition organization that, among other efforts, promotes the Mediterranean Diet, says consumer interest in healthful eating has opened up the door for retailers to tie olive oil into interest in that dietary regimen.

She suggests retailers conduct Mediterranean Diet store tours and merchandise Mediterranean Diet cookbooks, for example. Another idea is to promote olive oils by country of origin, showcasing foods from Spain along with Spanish olive oils, for example, she says.

Despite the rising price points for olive oils, retailers also have an opportunity to communicate the value of the product relative to other items in which consumers regularly indulge, according to Baer-Sinnott.

“People complain about the price of good olive oil, but a bottle of wine goes away in a night,” she says. “Even if you only spend $10 on a bottle of wine, then in two nights you’ve spent $20 on wine, but a $20 bottle of olive oil will give you pleasure for certainly more than two nights.”

She also suggests that retailers can stress the importance of having two varieties of olive oil, one for everyday cooking and another for finishing.

When it comes to merchandising, Russo-Tiesi of Bono USA also suggested that retailers move olive oil to high-visibility positions such as endcaps, and conduct in-store tastings to increase visibility and awareness.

“The thing that I like most is when a retailer pulls the olive oil off the middle of a shelf and out of the middle of the aisle,” he says. “I think it helps when they set up endcaps that include educational materials, or when they set up a [sampling station] and allow the customer to taste the product before they purchase it.”

While such merchandising comes at a cost, the reward can be long-term customer loyalty.

“Olive oil has a very high customer acquisition cost, but it also has a very high retention rate when the product is good,” says Russo-Tiesi. “You have that customer that keeps coming back for more.”

Flavored Oils

Barons Market has enjoyed success with its olive oil and vinegar tasting bars, which have been rolled out to all of its stores. The bars carry 12 varieties each of olive oil and vinegar, which consumers can sample using small tasting cups or on slices of fresh baguettes.

The retailer displays information about the origin and flavor qualities of each of the oils on its tasting bar, and Shemirani says customers often explore the tastes of several different oils before choosing their favorite. She cites flavored olive oils as generating excitement in the category.

“Flavored olive oils are definitely creating a niche in the market, because people want to do something a little bit different,” she says.

She notes that demand for olive oil off the shelves has also grown. “It’s an item that’s still going strong,” says Shemirani. “Our sales have definitely increased, even though the price and the cost of olive oil has increased.”

The retailer has been seeking solutions to minimize the price increases at the shelf.

“We’ve been looking at trying to find a less expensive olive oil, but we’re just not finding one that’s pure olive oil and not mixed with another kind of oil,” she says. “We’re trying to hold back our prices as much as we can, because olive oil has become a staple to our customers, and we think it’s important that staple items are very competitively priced.”

Pretty Packaging

Shemirani also says olive oil producers seem to have learned how important attractive packaging can be for the sale of the product at retail.

“Olive oil producers are now being more savvy with their labels, because they understand that they’re in such a competitive market. The look of their bottle really has to be outstanding for it to sell in kind of a sea of olive oils,” she says.

Much like makers of organic and natural products have improved their labeling to attract consumers, so to have olive oil manufacturers come around to the concept.

“That’s the trend that we’re seeing, and we’re loving it,” says Shemirani. “We’re so glad we’re seeing that for olive oil now. It’s making it cool again. It’s almost like making sure the label is Instagram-able, which is great.”

Tasting olive oil

While olive oil has gained widespread adoption among consumers, many still might not understand the flavor qualities they should be looking for in a high-quality product.

Brett Greenberg, a certified olive oil sommelier and the business development manager for private label at New York-based FoodMatch, a specialty food producer and importer that focuses on Mediterranean foods, says many consumers may only be familiar with the flavor of lower-quality olive oil.

“I think consumers have grown accustomed to the sensory profile of what is not great olive oil,” he says. “Once you become used to something, it’s hard to correct that.”

For retailers considering offering olive oil tastings to educate consumers, Greenberg offers a few pointers:

• Tastings should be done in an area free of other aromas, and tasters should not be wearing cologne or perfume, for example, so nothing interferes with the aromas of the olive oils.
• The color of the oil is not an indicator of quality, Greenberg says, but the aroma is important. It should smell fresh and may have notes similar to fresh-cut grass or herbs, or citrus notes.
• The taste should have what Greenberg calls a “pleasant bitterness,” and a peppery or pungent quality that may induce a cough at the back of the throat.

“It’s not always the strength of those characteristics being an indicator of quality,” says Greenberg. “It’s the clarity and the cleanness of those characteristics.”

Qualities to watch out for include a rancid odor reminiscent of wax or wet cardboard, or a greasy residue.

Oldways, a nonprofit food and nutrition organization that, among other efforts, promotes the Mediterranean Diet, also offers comprehensive guidelines for offering olive tastings on its website.

Mark Hamstra is a regular contributor to Specialty Food.

Replicating restaurant and travel experiences in the home kitchen; values-based shopping; and functional ingredients to support and maintain health, top the list of 2021 trend predictions from the Specialty Food Association's Trendspotter Panel.

The panel, composed of retailers, chefs, food writers and educators, and market analysts, considered drivers like the continuing coronavirus pandemic keeping a record number of people close to home, growing social awareness affecting purchasing decisions, and a maturing Gen Z population, in predicting the food trends that will dominate in the coming year. See full list of trends here.

“COVID-19 has a massive impact on trend predictions heading into 2021, as a record number of consumers cook and eat at home more, turning to everyday meals and special treats to comfort and support their mental and physical well-being,” says Denise Purcell, director of content for the Specialty Food Association. “We’re seeing several trends around experimenting with flavors and ingredients, as well as turning to functional or plant-based foods and twists on classic products to avoid menu fatigue.”

The Specialty Food Association 2020 Trendspotter Panelists

• Melanie Zanoza Bartelme, global food analyst, Mintel, Chicago
• Monifa Dayo, consultant, chef, The SupperClub
• Jonathan Deutsch, Ph.D., professor, Department of Food and Hospitality Management and Founding Director, Drexel Food Core Lab
• Andrew Freeman, founder of af&co./co-founder of Carbonate
• Illyanna Maisonet, first Puerto Rican food columnist in the country
• Clara Park, corporate chef of Culinary Innovation for Chelten House Products, head of the Chefs' Council for C-CAP, member of the Advisory Board for The Food Lab at Drexel University
• Chef Tu David Phu, Top Chef Alumni, TDP Enterprises LLC, founder, Tumami Spices
• Wendy Robinson, buyer, Market Hall Foods
• Leith Steel, account strategist and trendwatcher, Carbonate
• Chris Styler, culinary producer/product development chef, Freelance Food, LLC
• Bryant Terry, author, educator, and chef-in-residence at the Museum of the African Diaspora SF (MoAD)

Related: Datassential Experts Map Innovation to Culinary Trends; Consumers Treat Food as Medicine During Pandemic.

Hard kombucha, upcycled foods, leveled-up breakfasts, and produce-based jerky are among Whole Foods Market’s top food trend predictions for 2021. Rounding out the top 10 are functional foods, new takes on pantry staples, coffee beyond the mug, culinary-inspired baby food, alternative oils, and chickpea-based products.

Each year, a Trends Council of more than 50 Whole Foods Market team members, including local foragers, regional, and global buyers and culinary experts, compile trend predictions based on decades of experience and expertise in product sourcing, studying consumer preferences, and being on the frontlines with emerging and existing brands. Significantly influenced by the state of the food industry, the 2021 trends report reveals some of the early ways the food industry is adapting and innovating in response to COVID-19 for a post-pandemic food world.

“There have been radical shifts in consumer habits in 2020. For example, shoppers have found new passions for cooking, they’ve purchased more items related to health and wellness, and more are eating breakfast at home every day compared to pre-COVID,” said Sonya Gafsi Oblisk, chief marketing officer at Whole Foods Market, in a statement. “Food trends are a sign of the times, and our 2021 trends are no exception.”

Related: Searches For Mexican Street Food, Pumpkin Treats Surge; Recreating Travel and Tradition, Product Stories Among Trends at Specialty Food Live! Event.

Photo: Whole Foods

Almost a fifth of children (18.5 percent) in this country are overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but food manufacturers are launching a range of healthy snacks to help curb this trend.

Recent releases include Quevos, high protein, high fiber, low carb and sugar, gluten-free chips made from egg whites; Once Upon a Farm dairy-free yogurts (high in protein) and blends of fruit and vegetables in pouches; Organic Valley’s Egg Bites in three flavors; and MOR Snacks nut and cheese snack bags containing nothing but those ingredients.

Parents “need a quick fix, something healthy,” points out Christina Towle, a clinical nutritionist and founder of Hudson Valley Nutrition in New York. It’s important to be aware of the ingredients, she explains, and in her opinion, the smaller, family-owned companies tend to offer kid-friendly products with more integrity, she says, because they “really care about their brand and what’s in their products.”

Shelley Balanko, senior vice president of business development at The Hartman Group in Bellevue, Wash., says parents are relying on snacks that children can help themselves to, while their parents do their own work, especially now that they're working from home.

“They tend to want their kids’ snacks to be whole, real foods that are rich in protein and fiber and attributes like organic and non-GMO are important,” she says. However, even the most invested parents slip, she admitted. “Even these parents will rely on whatever is available to feed kids quickly and with minimal resistance during our stress-filled COVID-19 lives.”

Some companies are even responding directly to the coronavirus. Slammers Snacks has added Wellmune, a beta-glucan yeast to three of its organic superfood smoothies. Wellmune is said to boost the immune system, so, says founder Jen Carlson, “parents can feel good about the snacks they’re giving their kids.”

Marketing Moves

Marketing kids’ snacks has also taken a turn during the pandemic. Nick Hamburger, co-founder of Quevos, says he’s mostly been doing Amazon advertisements and influencer marketing. “Influencer is new since COVID,” he says. “We knew many people were spending a lot more time on their devices during quarantine so thought influencer would work well — turns out, it did!”

KidsLuv, which offers vitamin-enhanced beverages for kids, has shifted its marketing and advertising efforts more to online, too. It’s started using a crowdfunding site, “to help support our marketing, advertising, and sales efforts, but to also build brand loyalty by engaging potential customers in the business on a whole new level,” says Ashi Jelinek, founder and CEO.

Related: Datassential Experts Map Innovation to Culinary Trends; Bill Extends P-EBT Program to Feed Children.

Forty percent of adults aren’t sure how to have both a healthy diet and an environmentally sustainable one, according to research from International Food Information Council. But with these mission-driven brands, consumers don’t have to choose. Here are some new products from brands that are doing their part to help consumers, suppliers, and the earth.

Alter Eco Grass Fed Milk Organic Chocolate. Alter Eco’s Grass Fed Milk Organic Chocolate collection comes in three flavors: Grass Fed Milk, Grass Fed Milk with Salted Almonds, and Grass Fed Milk with Rice Crunch. The bars are made with 46 percent Peruvian cocoa sourced from fair trade farms that practice restorative farming methods, and milk from open-pastured, grass-fed cows from the alpine valleys of Switzerland. Alter Eco’s mission is to pioneer a full circle approach to eating, farming, and doing business, and to inspire others to do the same. alterecofoods.com

Bob’s Red Mill Organic Coconut Flour. This product is a nutritious alternative to wheat and other grain flours. Created from the highest quality desiccated coconut, it can be used to make pancakes, cookies, muffins, and more. Bob’s Red Mill Coconut Flour is now Fair Trade Certified by Fair Trade USA. Since 2016, Bob’s Red Mill has contributed $200,000 to coconut farming communities that support more than 7,000 fair trade farmers and community development programs. bobsredmill.com

Endangered Species Chocolate Oat Milk Chocolate Bars. Oat milk replaces dairy milk in this new line featuring Oat Milk and Dark Chocolate, Oat Milk, Sea Salt & Almonds, and Oat Milk, Rice Crisp & Dark Chocolate flavors. All three bars contain 55 percent cocoa. Endangered Species Chocolate is a non-GMO, fair trade company that uses ingredients that meet strict standards for quality, ethical trade, and environmental sustainability. In addition, 10 percent of the company’s net profits are donated annually to its GiveBack Partners, who can use the funds on projects they deem most important. chocolatebar.com

Happy Family Organics Happy Baby Regenerative & Organic Baby Food. These pouches, which come in Apples, Kale & Oats, Apples & Carrots, and Pears, Squash & Oats varieties, are made with ingredients that are grown using regenerative and organic practices. In addition, Happy Family Organics has partnered with TerraCycle to create a take-back program for the pouches to help keep plastics out of landfills and oceans. Happy Family Organics is on a mission to provide nutritious solutions for the whole family and create positive change on a global scale. happyfamilyorganics.com (Not pictured.)

The Jackfruit Co. Complete Jackfruit Meal. These single-serving meals are ready to enjoy in minutes and come in four, globally inspired flavors: Red Kidney Beans, Tomato, and Rustic Herbs; Chickpeas, Spinach, and Garam Masala; Black Beans, Corn, and Tex Mex Spice; and Coconut, Vegetables, and Thai Green Chile. All offerings are vegan and gluten-free. Through its partnership with Climate Collaborative, The Jackfruit Co. is committed to maximizing the benefits of responsible farming while reducing the detrimental impacts of food waste, packaging, and pollutants. thejackfruitcompany.com

Mamma Chia Organic Chiamilk. Mamma Chia Organic Chiamilk is a dairy-free, plant-based milk alternative made from nutrient-rich chia seeds. Perfect for adding to smoothies, cereal, coffee, or enjoying straight from the bottle, Chiamilk is a nutritional powerhouse with essential Omega-3, MCT, more calcium than a glass of traditional milk, and zero grams of sugar. It is available in Unsweetened Original and Unsweetened Vanilla flavors. Mamma Chia is a certified B Corp, a certified Women-Owned Business, and a 1 Percent For the Plant member. mammachia.com

Numi Organic Tea Sweet Slumber Tea. Sweet Slumber tea features herbal ingredients for a calming bedtime experience, including Numi’s Fair Trade Certified chamomile flower sourced from tea farms in Faiyum, Egypt; valerian root, which is shown in several studies to improve the ability to achieve high-quality sleep without grogginess; hop flowers; lavender flower; and lemon balm leaf. In addition, the tea features Numi’s new plant-based tea wrappers, which guarantees no eco-toxicity when they break down. numitea.com (Not pictured.)

Patagonia Provisions Organic Chile Mango Solar Dried Fruit. This dried fruit snack is made from the Rosa, a palm-size Nicaraguan mango that is peeled, sliced, and dried in solar-powered dehydrators. A drizzle of organic lime juice is added to balance the sweetness and a dusting of organic chile—a ground Argentinian red pepper called aji molido—adds a subtle, mellow heat. The mangoes are Regenerative Organic certified, meaning they are grown in ways that benefit the health of the soil, the workers, and any animals involved in production. patagoniaprovisions.com

Renewal Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour. This flour can be used as a substitute in baked foods from cookies and cakes to biscuits and scones. Renewal Mill uses okara, a superfood harvested from the pulp of organic soybeans created during soymilk production, to create the nutritious, versatile flour. Renewal Mill’s vision is to create a circular economy of food that closes the loop in today’s current supply chain, keeps valuable nutrition from going to waste, and reduces our impact on the environment. renewalmill.com

The Soulfull Project Apple Cinnamon Multigrain Hot Cereal. This hot cereal is made with a gluten-free blend of whole grain oats, red quinoa, black chia, delicious apples, cinnamon spice, and a touch of brown sugar. It’s vegan, Non-GMO Project Verified, and Whole Grain Stamp approved. For every serving purchased, The Soulfull Project will donate a serving to a regional food bank. The Soulfull Project is a certified B Corp with the mission to deliver nourishing and wholesome food and to increase awareness and individual engagement to build healthier communities amongst the underserved in the U.S. thesoulfullproject.com (Not pictured.)

Find more products from Specialty Food Association members in the Product Marketplace on specialtyfood.com

Arielle Feger is content associate for Specialty Food.

Photos: Mark Ferri; Food Styling: Leslie Orlandini; Props Styling: Francine Matalon–Degni

Riding the wave of unprecedented liquor sales from the COVID-19 pandemic, new and easy-to-access forms of alcoholic beverages, along with their complementary food counterparts, will keep the booze boom going this holiday season.

When COVID-19 had the entire country hunkered down at home, virtual happy hours and cocktail classes via social media platforms and video conferencing technology became the new norm. As socializing at home spurred consumers to stock up on their favorite alcoholic beverages, cocktail components and liquor sales soared.

According to a June 2020 report from Drizly, an alcohol e-commerce marketplace that services the U.S. and Canada, consumers not only ordered more frequently, but also at a larger quantity per order, with average order size up 50 percent higher than baseline going into the week of March 16.  This included sales of beer, wine, and liquor.

During the last week in May, New York City experienced some of the highest week-over-week growth above baseline, according to the online platform—jumping from 190 percent to 260 percent. Some markets have steadily experienced growth well above the national average, including Westchester, New York; Norwalk and Hartford-New Haven, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; and Minneapolis. Houston and San Antonio experienced a higher amount of growth above baseline, as did Seattle, Newark, New Jersey, and Boston.

Drizly also reports the biggest success stories heading into the warmer months included mezcal, (accelerating 1,064 percent growth above average). Subcategories that were dominating the week of Memorial Day included hard seltzer, ready-to-drink, and cocktail accoutrements and ingredients.

Old Fashioned with Tillen Farms Syrup

According to Nielsen data, off-premise sales of spirits in the U.S. were up 34.1 percent from last year for the nine-week period ending May 2, while wine sales grew 30.1 percent during the same time. Beer sales were up 12.6 percent.

And spiked seltzers, which last year were just emerging and showing strong promise, were up an astounding 456 percent year-over-year during the week of March 21.

While alcohol sales continue to soar, the fate of entertaining culture for both food and drink continues to evolve. “The future of entertaining will be about creating unique experiences at home that replicate the diversity and expertise we typically see outside of the home,” says Kalyn Rozanski, co-founder and innovation trend expert of Ebco, a consumer trends and insights company based in Austin, Texas. 

Rozanski says she is seeing consumers investing in appliances that help to create a more expert-level experience at home—from fancy ice and bread machines to pasta makers and outdoor pizza ovens—as well as restaurants that are selling their condiments, curated kits, and beverage kits to provide a restaurant-quality experience at home.

“These new ‘mixing and matching’ behaviors (like buying high-end condiments or cocktail kits to supplement an otherwise ordinary/average meal) create a unique take on something as well as meet specific budgets—all reshaping how consumers entertain,” she says.

A Smoky Manhattan with Bitters Lab Smoky Cedar Currant Bitters

Fast forward to June when COVID-19 quarantine restrictions loosened: Socially distant outdoor gatherings were more prevalent and specialty food bites became a trend that will move swiftly into the holidays.

From the burgeoning canned cocktail category to an increased interest in bitters and other make-at-home drink components, here are some beverage trends to look out for this holiday season.

Can Convenience
Thanks to the pandemic, alcoholic beverages in RTD canned form are quickly becoming favorites. “You don’t have to have another person pour you a drink and touch your glass, and you don’t have to touch a shared bottle—your can is yours,” remarks Lindsay Martin, vp of marketing for Reed’s Inc., which recently launched an RTD ‘Ginger Mule’ in partnership with Oregon-based craft brewer, Full Sail Brewing Co.

According to a Nielsen report, sales of canned cocktails grew 80 percent from April 2019 to April 2020. “The canned cocktail trend is poised to help with the cocktail culture especially as we are trying to get outdoors, and keep social distancing a priority,” says Kara Nielsen, director of food and drink for WGSN, a global trend forecasting and consumer insights group.

Nielsen says we will see both classics and new flavors evolve in a can especially as we approach the holidays. “Expect flavors such as maple syrup and winter spices like cinnamon and clove,” she notes.

Onda Sparkling Tequila, Reed’s Craft Ginger Mule, Tip Top Proper Cocktails Negroni

According to a WGSN analysis, the category has accelerated in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and is projected to grow globally at a rate of 3.32 percent from 2019 to 2027.

At Hyde Park Gourmet Food & Wine, Cincinnati, Ohio, Two Chicks Vodka Elderflower & Pear Cocktail, a sparkling vodka fizz, and a sparkling Apple Gimlet cocktail made with gin, apple, and cucumber, are widely popular along with Social’s organic sparkling sake ‘wine-style’ cocktail in Toasted Coconut & Almond.

“These are not like Boones Farm in a can but, instead, ready-to-drink beverages with high-quality ingredients, authentic spirits, and innovative flavors,” notes Hyde Park’s owner Evelyn Ignatow.

Hard Seltzer
The hype over hard seltzer may be just that, but craft breweries are jumping on the bandwagon, consumers have an increased desire for lower alcohol and healthier-ish drinks, and socially distanced entertaining is still a reality. Retailers can expect to see new launches and holiday flavors. According to analyst Kevin Grundy of Jefferies, U.S. sales of these malt-based beverages are expected to double to $3.5 billion this year and reach $6.5 billion by 2024.

Evil Water Passion Fruit Lemon Coconut Hard Pastry Seltzer, Urban Chestnut Lime & Salt Hard Seltzer

“Craft seltzers are going to be huge for this upcoming holiday season,” says Kathryn  Preissinger, PR coordinator at Tavour, a nationwide craft beer delivery service. Tavour has been offering curated boxes of hard seltzer from breweries such as Evil Twin, Urban Chestnut, and Untitled Art. 

Preissinger says consumers want access to low-calorie refreshing adult beverages with sophisticated, craft flavor profiles including real fruit concentrates, tropical flavors, or fun flavors like marshmallow and gummy bears. “Seltzers are flavorless so companies can make them taste precisely as they wish,” she adds.      

Party in a Box
With the relaxation of liquor laws in several states, restaurants are creating cocktail boxes and kits that customers can pick up and spirit and spirit-related companies are collaborating with cocktail component brands to include products like simple syrups and bitters.

Companies like Columbus, Ohio-based ROOT 23 for example, makers of simple syrups made with organic cane sugar, feature its Blueberry Mint Syrup in a cocktail kit with Re:Find Distillery in California for a ‘Winter Blues’ gin cocktail, while Hella Bitters new Entertaining Kit will showcase Hella Bitters & Soda, Hella Bitters Bar Set, and Cocktail Kingdom bar tools.

“We expect this ‘kit trend’ to carry over to retail,” says Ebco’s Rozanski.  

“And for holidays, you could imagine gifting a curated holiday-themed mixology kit or ordering a kit to complement a holiday meal.”

Rozanski says also to look out for direct-to-consumer companies that take the guess work out of making a top-shelf cocktail like Sourced Craft Cocktails and On the Rocks that deliver same-day liquor and the batched ingredients needed to create an expert-level drink at home. “Think smoke and fire margaritas, smoky old fashioned, etc.,” she says.

Re:Find Distillery Handcrafted Gin, ROOT 23 Blueberry Mint Simple Syrup

It also behooves brick-and-mortar retailers to keep cocktail components in stock and offer suggestions about holiday-themed libations to consumers. “We have seen big increases in the purchase of bitters for a make-at-home Negroni,” says Matt Caputo of Salt Lake City, Utah’s Caputo’s Market & Deli. Caputo says the big names like Angostura, Peychauds, and Fee Brother’s are doing well but small-batch producers are seeing big growth too. He touts Mister Bitters Fig & Cinnamon for holiday-themed brown spirit cocktails, Bitters Lab Charred Cedar Currant for any classic like a Manhattan, and Bar Daddy Orgeat syrup especially for Japanese-type cocktails. 

Stocking the Bar and Pantry

With more socializing and staying at home this holiday season, stocking the pantry with quality specialty foods for appetizers and hors d’oeuvres such as tinned fish, charcuterie, crackers, and cheeses, will be a priority.

While consumers are getting on board with charcuterie and cheese trays, conservas or tinned fish are becoming huge add-ons. According to Bloomberg, the market for tinned fish is expected to reach $36.7 billion by 2021, up from $29.8 billion in 2016.

American consumers are moving beyond their familiar canned tuna and exploring the likes of products better known in Europe and Asia such as Spanish sardines, Italian anchovy fillets, Korean tuna in chili oil, as well as smoky octopus from Alaska. “We have never seen growth like we have in this category. It’s quite insane actually,” says Matt Caputo of Caputo’s Market & Deli.

Caputo says most brands he sells are growing like crazy, but standouts include Jose Gourmet, Espinaler, and Wildfish. “When Wildfish arrived, we didn’t even have a brand page set up. That did not stop it from selling out—the entire (full) pallet in four business days,” he recalls.

At Hyde Park Gourmet, cut-to-order cheeses like Brillat Savarin Triple Cream and Prairie Breeze Cheddar along with salty bites like Redondo Iglesias Serrano ham and Mitica Marcona almonds are a must, but it’s Arroyabe Bonito del Norte Tuna in a can that is flying off the shelves. “Customers are not balking at the higher price,” either, says owner Evelyn Ignatow.

When it comes to capitalizing on this new cocktail culture, experts say retailers can benefit from pre-packaging—making ‘to-go’ happy hour packs that include specialty foods like cheeses and crackers or dips and salty snacks, or merchandising garnishes with spirits.

“We may even see a resurgence in sales of familiar favorite garnishes likes olives and pickled onions or Luxardo Maraschino cherries or Amarena cherries,” notes Kara Nielsen, director of food and drink for WGSN.

Sable & Rosenfeld, which earlier this year introduced Bourbon Tipsy Dark Reserve Cherries, reports that its sales have more than doubled in the cocktail garnish and condiments categories.

“Our Bourbon Dark Reserve Cherries have really taken off and our new website shows off our products nicely with many suggested recipes,” says Mary O’Neill, vice president of sales at the Toronto-based company.

In this time of cooking and being at home more, engaging with social media is key.

“It’s even more important now for brands to leverage influencers to help promote holiday entertaining, especially since consumers are not having the same level of exposure to new brands at restaurants or stores,” says Kalyn Rozanski, co-founder and innovation trend expert of Ebco.

“Video content and live DIYs are extremely popular forms of micro-content right now,” she says. “We see brands having influencers show how they are creating their own spin with products, like showing how a Keto cracker brand can be made into a Keto cheese and appetizer board.”

Nielsen concludes, “It’s an amazing moment for consumers to learn and find brands online and see what these companies are doing and how it can translate into home experimentation for the holidays.”

New and Noteworthy for Holiday Cocktail Parties

21st Amendment Brewery SoMA Blackberry Hard Seltzer. This hard seltzer created by the San Francisco brewery contains 100 calories, 2 grams of carbs, and zero sugar. It’s made using a natural fermentation process and brewed with natural flavors from Virginia Dare.  21st-amendment.com

Evil Twin Brewery Evil Water Passion Fruit, Lemon, Coconut Hard Pastry Seltzer. This hard ‘pastry’ seltzer is brewed with lemon zest, tart passion fruit, and coconut and is 4.5% ABV. Bright and effervescent with flavors of passion fruit, coconut, and lemon zest. eviltwin.nyc

The Murph’s Famous Bloody Mary Mix Party in a Box. This convenient party pack includes a hot and spicy mix that is slow kettle-cooked to create a thick and zesty Bloody Mary. Pepperoncini included for garnish. Just add the alcohol for a holiday brunch cocktail with or without heat. murphsfamous.com 

Onda Sparkling Tequila. Unlike a hard seltzer, Onda is not malt-based. Made with blanco tequila, this sparkling drink in a can has 5% alcohol, 100 calories, zero sugar, zero carbs, and is naturally gluten-free. Available in Sparkling Tequila Grapefruit and Sparkling Tequila Lime in an 8-, 16- or 24-pack. drinkonda.com

ROOT 23 Classic Cocktail Set. This set, a perfect hostess gift for the holidays, features four 4-ounce bottles of simple syrup including Vanilla Ginger, Cherry Almond, Maple Cinnamon and Grapefruit Basil. Each flavor combination is versatile and pairs with almost any type of spirit. root23.com

Sable & Rosenfeld Bourbon Tipsy Dark Reserve Cherries. These large, firm Oregon-grown Stardust cherries are packed in Sable & Rosenfeld’s exclusive syrup spiked with bourbon to create the dark reserve. Bourbon Tipsy Dark Reserve Cherries can be used to garnish a cocktail, cheese tray, or decadent dessert. sableandrosenfeld.com

Simple Mills Roasted Red Pepper Veggie Pita Crackers. These gluten-free crackers are made with vegetable and seed flours including sweet potato, parsnip, flax, and sunflower. One-third vegetable serving per nine crackers. simplemills.com

Tillen Farms by Stonewall Kitchen, Old Fashioned Syrup. Sweetened with orange juice and spiced with bitters, this syrup combines with any fine whiskey to make the perfect Old Fashioned and other classic cocktails. stonewallkitchen.com

Tip Top Proper Cocktails, Negroni. This RTD cocktail in a can is bittersweet with flavors of orange, grapefruit, and juniper, and boozy with a 26% ABV (52 proof). Made with dry gin, red bitters, and sweet vermouth. Other classics available: Manhattan and Old Fashioned. tiptopcocktails.com

Wildfish Cannery Smoked Octopus. Caught in the Bering Sea, this tinned octopus is harvested, smoked, and hand-packed in Alaska. Smoky, briny, and succulent, it pairs well with a fine whisky and can be dressed up with olive oil and lemon for a holiday appetizer treat. wildfishcannery.com

Unearthed Olives with Gouda. This prepackaged duo of queen green olives grown and hand harvested in a small Spanish town in the heart of Andalusia combines with Dutch Gouda. A convenient addition to a cocktail gathering. foodsunearthed.com

Nicole Potenza Denis is a contributing editor to Specialty Food.

Photos: Mark Ferri; Food Styling: Leslie Orlandini; Props Styling: Francine Matalon–Degni

Cover: The Murph’s Famous Bloody Mary, Two Chicks Vodka Fizz, Wildfish Cannery Smoked Octopus, Unearthed Olives with Gouda

Specialty Food Live!, the Specialty Food Association’s virtual marketplace event, took place last week with hundreds of buyers exploring thousands of specialty food products in SFA’s member makers’ virtual booths.

Virtual tastings and educational sessions took place during the event that was originally slated for four days, but extended to five at the request of participants. Topics included Datassential Experts Map Innovation to Culinary Trends, Consumers Treat Food as Medicine During the Pandemic, and Specialty Food Innovators Share Big Ideas for Social Change.

SFA thanks the sponsors of the event, Catapult Commercialization Services, Bedrock Analytics, and The Non-GMO Project.

Related: Recreating Travel and Tradition, Product Stories Among Specialty Food Live! Trends; Specialty Food Live! Extended.

Replicating food experiences at home is an overarching trend amid COVID-19, said the Specialty Food Association Trendspotter Panel, who spent last week exploring showrooms and talking with exhibitors at the SFA’s inaugural Specialty Food Live! virtual marketplace event. That replication can take the form of comfort food and family traditions or recreating restaurant or travel experiences.

Three representatives of the Panel spoke Thursday at the session, Trendspotters Take on Specialty Food Live!, and discussed their picks for food and ingredient trends the industry will be seeing in the fourth quarter and into 2021.

Participants included: Clara Park, corporate chef of culinary innovation for Chelten House Products, which creates sauces, dressings, soups and more for the nation’s top grocers; Sheree Williams, owner of V. Sheree Creative Enterprises, a boutique consulting agency, and publisher of Cuisine Noir magazine, which connects the African diaspora through food, drink and travel; and Melanie Zanoza Bartelme, a global food analyst for Mintel, who provides insights on innovation and consumer trends across a number of food categories.  

Here are some of the trends they highlighted in the session. A full list of official trends from Specialty Food Live! will be released in the coming weeks.

Global and regional American “travel” through food. With consumers sticking closer to home, global flavors are of strong interest. Scandinavia, Cambodia, and Senegal were on display at the event. Nordic cuisine has been on the radar, said Bartelme, and interesting ingredients showing up at Specialty Food Live! included sea buckthorn and birch crystals.  

Other global flavors noted by the Trendspotters were Cambodian chile pastes and fonio, an ancient grain from Senegal, which continues to gain attention.  

“There is an effort to preserve culture through food and have that taste at home,” noted Williams. 

The trend extends to regional American as well, noted Bartelme who pointed out the concept of road trips and discovering what’s here in your backyard is increasingly appealing in the wake of COVID-19.

Connecting products with the stories behind them. This movement encompasses cleaner more authentic ingredients and consumers wanting to know where their food is coming from, not only the product itself but is the company women- or diversity- or LGBTQ-owned. “Consumers are making more conscious decisions about who they are supporting with their food dollars,” said Park.

Holiday 2020: Recreating traditional foods and giftable staples. “With everyone trying to figure out what the holidays will look like this year, I think we’re going to see more recreating traditions even if it’s in a smaller way, but with a twist,” said Williams. Park agreed: “We’ll see familiar things but made more special, like Mexican hot chocolates or filled candy canes.”

“It’s also an opportunity to talk about a lot of pantry staples as gifts,” noted Bartelme. “Items like pasta, rice, you can bundle up some of the nicer ones and feel like you are giving that love to your friends and family.” 

Among continuing trends the Panel noted: Plant-based in new formats, including a meatless mix for at-home cooking; cocktail kits and ingredients like simple syrups; keto-diet foods; upcycled foods like watermelon rind pickles; and low-sugar and alternative sweeteners like monkfruit.

The SFA Trendspotter Panel consists of retailers, chefs, foodservice professionals, market researchers, journalists, food educators and other industry professionals who apply their expertise in their individual channels to help predict trends for the year and at various events like the Fancy Food Shows. Other members of the Specialty Food Live! Trendspotter Panel included Jonathan Deutsch, professor of culinary arts and science in the Department of Food and Hospitality Management at Drexel University in Philadelphia; Chris Styler, chef, culinary producer, and cookbook author, including the soon-to-be-released Golden Girls Cookbook; Dawn Padmore, food event producer and cultural programmer, and Kysha Harris, food writer and culinary producer.

Related: Consumers Treat Food as Medicine During Pandemic; Kroger Drives Plant-Based Meat Sales in Integrated Sets.
 

The specialty food category is expected to grow more in 2020 than originally forecast—16.5 percent versus 13.3 percent, said David Lockwood, consulting director at Mintel, during the session The State of the Specialty Food Industry: Category Focus, held Tuesday as part of the SFA’s Specialty Food Live! Virtual Marketplace event.

Growth in the months since COVID-19-related surge buying hit 15-17 percent in May through August versus the 10 percent originally predicted, leading Mintel to adjust its forecast. While the forecast is based on a model of a second higher rate of COVID-19 infection hitting in fall 2020, Mintel is not expecting the same spike in panic-buying purchases as consumers and the supply chain become better prepared for a next wave.

Lockwood and David Browne, a market research retail and brand consultant, work with the Specialty Food Association to produce its annual State of the Specialty Food Industry research and 10-Year Category Tracking and Forecast reports. In this session, the pair updated the performance of the specialty food category overall in light of COVID-19’s impact and zeroed in on specific categories that had been influenced by the pandemic, specifically essentials, snacks, plant-based, and beverages. Lockwood and Browne discussed the specialty sales performance of each before COVID-19, during last spring’s height of the pandemic, and today.

“It’s the year of essentials,” said Lockwood, referring to an array of pantry categories meant for at-home consumption and meal preparation. “Their growth contributed to the overall growth of specialty food this year.”

The segment totaled $29 billion in 2019 sales, comprising 41 percent of the total brick-and-mortar specialty market. The top four categories alone (cheese, meat, bread, and water) dominate with 50 percent of sales.

The COVID-19 boost was undeniable for essentials, said Browne, in particular among baking mixes, frozen entrees, oils, vinegars, and sauces as consumers faced stay-at-home mandates and turned to cooking and baking. Some stagnating categories enjoyed a “rebirth” as a result, he said. “Soup, for example, has not been a very popular category, especially with younger consumers but in March alone it grew 125 percent year on year,” he added.

Some specialty essentials were passed over in the height of surge shopping in favor of conventional brands but then boomed as shoppers could not find mainstream brands.

Browne sees the essentials category retaining its importance amid continued sheltering at home. Mintel predicts the growth rate for sales of food at home in 2021 will be roughly twice what it would have been without the pandemic.

“Center store is having a revival as a result,” said Browne.

Among innovation opportunities, Browne and Lockwood point to upgraded pantry basics, special diet-focused essentials, and culinary exploration as consumers upgrade their cooking and baking skills.  

The pandemic did not slow growth of plant-based foods and beverages, which instead enjoyed a boost in most categories, especially milk and other dairy and meat alternatives. The segment benefitted from trial during surge shopping when consumers could not find traditional dairy or meat—and opted for refrigerated plant-based items or stocked up on shelf stable. The plant-based segment overall, which accounted for $5 billion in 2019 sales, has been growing at three times the pace of the total specialty market since 2017. The specialty category has a huge runway for growth, said Browne, with an increase of 10-20 percent annually through 2024. He noted that it has a similar trajectory to other lasting segments including organic and gluten free.

The category has an “unlimited amount of innovation” to tap into, said Lockwood, including meat and meat alternative mixes and cultured meat.

Specialty snacks grew slower amid COVID than one might expect as people hunkered in their homes. Though the segment is large—comprising $18.8 billion in 2019—it is also mature and consists of several large categories: chips, pretzels, and snacks; yogurt and kefir; and chocolate and other confectionery. The growth phase has passed as the segment matures, said Browne, but snacks are showcase items that get shoppers into the store. Comprising 27 percent of the total brick-and-mortar specialty market, they are nearly essential, he noted. The category was also hit by closed offices and schools and some grab-and-go wellness snack categories like yogurt and bars will likely gradually rebound as those institutions reopen. Innovations including plant-foward, grain-free, sweet/savory combos, and local/regional/small batch will drive opportunity in the snacks segment.

Growth in the $12.2 billion beverage segment experienced a surprising switch thanks to stay-at-home orders. While RTD and grab-and-go have ruled the beverage segment for the past several years, non-RTD coffee and water are the new stars. “It’s not a switch we would have predicted pre-COVID,” noted Browne. Mintel predicts growth will come from non-RTD coffee, hot cocoa, and tea, as well as water, with innovations in regional/local roasters, for example.

RTD beverages will rebound slowly as people return to normal routines but are a maturing category oversaturated with me-too brands, said Browne, and needs fresh ideas to grow. He expects shelf stable RTD, low sugar, functional ingredients including immunity boosters, sleep aids, brain health, and detox properties to be among innovation opportunities.

Browne and Lockwood also identified four trends to expect in the “next normal”:

1. Health and wellness; culinary exploration; transparency; and sustainability are attributes that will resonate with consumers.
2. Specialty food consumers’ ethical and economic awareness will shift. They are seeking to learn about and support women-owned, minority-owned businesses and local/regional brands.
3. Innovation pace will continue to be under-average as SKU optimization continues. Makers should think about target innovation to Gen-Zs and Millennials especially.
4. Consumers are trading down in price but not positioning. They’re committed to the environment, organics, plant-based, and non-GMO. Private labels are rising to meet this need.

Related: Taking a Calculated Risk: CBD in Specialty Food; Specialty Retailers Improve Selling Strategies Amid COVID.

Demand for plant-based foods, which had already been increasing sharply in recent years, received a boost during the pandemic, according to retailers.

Shoppers increasingly turned to plant-based alternatives for several reasons, including because of supply shortages among traditional meat and dairy products and for health reasons.

“Our customers’ desire to remain healthy correlated to an increase in immune-building categories we’re known for, such as vitamins and healthier products like organic and plant-based foods,” said Jack Sinclair, CEO of Sprouts Farmers Market, in a recent conference call discussing the company’s second-quarter earnings.

The specialty plant-based segment has grown more than 27 percent since 2017, reaching nearly $5 billion in total brick-and-mortar sales in 2019, according to the recent State of the Specialty Food Industry research, from the Specialty Food Association and Mintel. According to SPINS, sales of plant-based products outpaced sales gains in the overall food and beverage market, as well as in natural products and organic products, during March, the SFA State of the Industry report found.

Sales of plant-based meat alternatives, for example, were up 300-400 percent or more in March, compared with a year ago, and far outpaced the sharp increase in the sales growth of traditional animal proteins.

In the plant-based alternative milk category, shoppers may have also been attracted to the products’ longer shelf life as they sought to minimize shopping trips.

Supply Chain is Resilient

Some reports indicated that the supply chain for plant-based alternatives remained strong during the pandemic as traditional meat and dairy processors struggled to keep up with the surge in demand in March and April.

“We have not seen any real issues in the food supply,” Tony Antoci, CEO of Los Angeles-based Erewhon Market, told SFA News Daily. “During the crazy days in March and April the supplies were short, but for the most part recovered completely.”

Some retailers, including Kroger Co., also reported strong sales of their private-label plant-based products.

“Having identified plant-based foods as a key trend well before 2019, the Simple Truth plant-based platform continues to deliver strong growth, growing over 32 percent in the first quarter,” said Rodney McMullen, chairman and CEO of the Cincinnati-based retailer, in a conference call with analysts discussing results for the period, which ended May 23.

In fact, Kroger’s King Soopers banner came out on top in terms of private label, plant-based assortment in the Good Food Institute’s inaugural Good Food Retail Report on plant-based foods. The Denver-based chain carries more than 35 private label items across product categories, including the new Emerge refrigerated line of plant-based meat alternatives.

Refrigerated plant-based meat alternatives have surged 112 percent in dollar sales and 70 percent in unit volume between 2017 and 2019, driven in part by inflation and in part by consumers trading up to new premium brands such as Beyond Meat, according to the SFA State of the Industry report.

The share of sales remains small for some plant-based categories, such as cheese, at 3.4 percent, and frozen entrees, at 5.7 percent, but in many cases these items are driving sales growth and generating consumer excitement with innovative new products, the report concluded.

Restaurants Embrace Plant-Based Options

Restaurants are also seeking to capitalize on the growing consumer interest in plant-based foods. In addition to the widespread addition of burger and sausage alternatives from Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, restaurants are looking to other plant-based sources for meat, seafood, and cheese analogs, according to a recent Datassential webinar. Fifty-eight percent of consumers said they want to increase their consumption of plant-based foods, the firm’s consumer research showed.

Among the plant-based ingredients of note appearing on restaurant menus are:

• Aquafaba, the liquid leftover from cooked chickpeas, which can be whipped like meringue and substituted for egg whites in recipes, said Carly Levin, account manager and plant-based expert at Datassential, during the webinar. “It’s sustainable, and growing on menus,” she said.
• Burmese tofu, which is made from chickpea powder and is somewhat similar to polenta. It is commonly used in Burmese cooking and could be a soy-free tofu analog for the increasing number of consumers avoiding soy products, Levin said.
• Jackfruit, which Datassential research shows is up 58 percent on menus in the last four years, substitutes in its unripe form as an alternative to shredded meats in dishes such as a faux barbecue pulled-pork sandwich.
• Heart of Palm, which can be used as a substitute for seafood in some dishes. It has been hollowed out and featured as an alternative to calamari rings at Crossroads Kitchen in Los Angeles, for example.
• Banana blossom, which is used in Southeast Asian and Indian cuisines, has a taste similar to artichokes but can also be used as a seafood substitute because of its texture. “Texture is so important” when it come to plant-based alternatives, said Levin.
• Vegan cheese in general, which is growing faster than any other type of cheese on restaurant menus, according to Datassential. Mention of vegan cheese on menus is up 200 percent in the last four years, the research firm reported.

It’s hard to beat soup for ease and convenience and sales in the U.S. are reflecting that.

The recently released State of the Specialty Food Industry report from the Specialty Food Association and Mintel, shows that in March, soup sales grew a sizeable 125 percent over 2019, with shoppers confined to their homes. And the growth’s expected to continue with specialty soup sales projected to grow 14.6 percent between 2020 and 2024, due partly to curtailed restaurant options.

The soup category has many things going for it: It’s grab-and-go, convenient, shelf-stable, and it meets different nutritional needs. It can also be used for a quick lunch or as a dinner ingredient as Americans cook more.

“Soup continues to be a very strong category and candidly, the supply has not quite caught up with demand, which has been especially strong during COVID,” says Dan Glei, executive vice president of merchandising/marketing for K-VA-T Food Stores in Abingdon, Virginia, which operates the Food City chain. “It went up wildly at the beginning and is still at a very, very high level compared with what it would normally be. It’s now August and with no promotion we’re selling all the soup we can get.”

Best sellers at Food City stores are classics like tomato and chicken noodle. With fewer restaurant options, consumers are eating soup for lunch and combining them into dinner recipes, he says. “The soup category meets a lot of different customers’ needs.”

Soup sells in cans, cartons, and fresh in the deli, Glei says, and Panera at Home refrigerated soup is seeing particularly strong sales now. The retailer's self-serve soup section is closed at the moment due to the pandemic.

Soup sales were up “dramatically” at Giant Food in Landover, Maryland, in March and April and they’ve stayed up by at least 20 percent through the summer, Monica Simmons-Dolce, director of edible grocery, dairy and frozen told SFA News Daily.

Specialty soup sales have risen substantially, she says, though larger brands like Campbell’s “seem to be the go-to brands, perhaps because people see Campbell’s as comfort food.”

At PCC Community Markets, a 15-store chain in Seattle, same store sales show a radical year-over-year increase from March 2019 to March 2020, says senior grocery buyer, Scott Owen, and even by July same store year-over-year sales continued to be up 20 percent. Primary sales drivers are soups in cans and aseptic cartons, but the big winner is broth, which constitutes nine of the top 10 sellers.

The need to stock up pantries certainly drove the March soup sales, Owen says, and if COVID rules remain the same, he expects to see sales rise again in the fall.

Related: Cheesemakers, Retailers Look to Alternative Sampling; Rice, Pasta Shortage Opened Door for West African Grain.

Join SFA for the next Ask the Experts webinar on Thursday, August 13 at 1 p.m. EST. 

During this webinar, Laurie Demeritt, CEO of The Hartman Group will share recent consumer data and insights on functional foods and beverages, including usage, benefits, and ingredients sought. The webinar will address the impact of COVID-19 on consumers’ concerns and priorities, as well as opportunities and implications for specialty foods. Register now.

The Maine lobster industry has shifted it focus from foodservice to retail as restaurant demand has fallen amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

While 70 percent of Maine lobsters are usually sold through foodservice channels, this year that figure is expected to be under pressure amid widespread restaurant closures and restrictions on dining out.

“Typically we spend a lot of our marketing resources educating chefs about Maine lobster,” said Marianne LaCroix, executive director of the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, which represents Maine lobster harvesters, dealer and processors. “We looked at what was available to us, and saw it was going to have to be about consumers eating lobster at home this year.”

The group pooled together the digital resources it already had, including recipes and tips for home cooks, and began promote direct-to-consumer sales and sales through retail outlets. Because much of the product is sold pre-cooked, it can be incorporated in recipes easily, even by inexperienced home cooks, LaCroix said.

Consumers already appear receptive to preparing lobster at home, according to research from restaurant-meal delivery service GrubHub, which reports that lobster roll kits were the second most popular meal kit ordered between March 18 and June 18, behind only burger meal kits. Overall, orders of meal kits were up 55 percent in that period.

Restaurant chain Luke’s Lobster, which is known for its lobster rolls, had already been offering do-it-yourself lobster kits for consumers from its restaurants, and in 2018 the chain began selling frozen lobster roll kits through Whole Foods stores nationwide. The kits include lobster knuckle and claw meat, a packet of Luke’s Lobster seasoning and instructions on how to replicate Luke’s Lobster rolls at home. Last year, Whole Foods named Luke’s Lobster as one of its Suppliers of the Year, citing the company’s efforts to adhere to sustainability and animal welfare standards.

Several other Maine restaurant operators have also begun offering lobster roll kits nationwide, either frozen or fresh, through such platforms as Goldbelly and Amazon. Eventide Oyster Co., an oyster bar in Portland, Maine, for example, offers its James Beard Award-winning Brown Butter Lobster Rolls in meal kits priced from $59 to $199 (for two, four, six or eight rolls, including a gluten-free option).

Specialty food distributor Baldor Food, which recently added restaurant meal kits from several New York City restaurants, has been offering a Lobster Roll Kit from Jeffrey’s Grocery, a Greenwich Village restaurant specializing in raw oysters and other seafood dishes. The kits include enough ingredients to make four lobster rolls and come with both butter (for Maine style rolls) and lobster aioli (for Connecticut-style).

LaCroix said it’s too soon to determine if the MLMC’s efforts are having an impact, as most of the Maine lobster harvest usually occurs between July and September. She’s encouraged, however, by reports that consumers are buying more seafood during the pandemic, and noted that lobster can be perceived as being both indulgent and healthy.

“Those are two things people are looking for at this time, so people are able to tick two boxes,” she said.

Lobster processors have been working on developing retail distribution by expanding their product offerings for retail and by seeking new retail customers, LaCroix said.

Meanwhile the decline in demand from foodservice outlets has put pressure on lobster prices, making the meat more affordable for consumers.

“It’s probably a good time to buy lobster,” said LaCroix.

Related: Premium Brands Acquires Lobster Company; Tariffs May Hurt Maine Lobster Industry.

Cocktails with a healthful twist, fermented fruit, and Levantine, West African, and regional Indian and Mexican ingredients are some North American flavor trends for 2020, according to Symrise, a global manufacturer of flavors and fragrances.

Symrise tracks trends throughout the year through consumer insights, menu tracking, industry events like the Fancy Food Shows and StarChefs Congress, and interviews with culinary chefs, pastry chefs, and mixologists. During a webinar, Thursday, the company released five trending areas among the North American Top Flavor Trends it is compiling, and notes how their growth may be impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. 

While the 2020 research began before the spread of COVID-19, which has cast uncertainty around business environments, the team of Symrise’s Teterboro, N.J.-based flavor division notes some of these trends seem poised to continue during the current, unpredictable situation. 

“Over the past few months, we’ve seen many trends holding from a macro sense,” said Dylan Thompson, marketing & consumer insights manager. 

While the long-term impact on restaurants remains unknown, consumers are cooking more at home with pantry staples and purchases are centered on the opposite of the store perimeter with categories like breakfast cereals growing, added Emmanuel Laroche, vice president marketing & consumer insights.

Symrise’s trends include:

Drink to Your Health. Craft cocktails aren’t fading anytime soon but mixologists are getting creative with ingredients mimicking the look and feel of perceived healthy drinks using plant and botanical-based ingredients. Vermouth, a fortified wine that’s aromatized through herbs, barks, flowers, seeds, and spices, will enjoy a revival, said Evan Unger, marketing & consumer insights specialist. A hot area in cocktails, botanicals will continue to be in the forefront. Look for Escubac, a botanical liqueur similar to a gin with notes of cumin and coriander, to grow. Functional juice bar items, like sea buckthorn berry, a “nutrient powerhouse,” will be used as the basis for cocktails similar to other superfood ingredients, said Unger. 

In light of COVID-19, Thompson sees the healthful imbibing trend continuing with an emphasis on functional ingredients, especially related to immune health. “Maybe not specifically for alcoholic beverages but juice bar type drinks should grow,” he said.

Fruit Gets Funky. While fermentation is dominating condiments with products like kimchi and gochujang, a sweet shift is coming with fruit as the latest category, said Julia Gorman, digital marketing specialist. Pickled berries, popular in Scandinavian cuisine, have made their way to the U.S. Mixologists are also experimenting with fermenting tropical fruits in cocktails. Ume Boshi, a sour Japanese plum traditionally served over rice, is expected in more culinary applications, as is fermented cacao pulp, a byproduct of cacao beans that chefs have begun salvaging through fermentation.

Fermentation has been around for centuries and this trend could potentially continue with people doing more recipe experimenting at home during COVID-19, said Thompson.

Spice & Salt Meets Sweet. Sweet and salty are a classic combination and now spice is adding complexity, said Beau Collins, marketing and consumer insights specialist, who points to harissa resurfacing in sweets as an example. Wasabi has seen 33 percent growth used in sweet applications, including a Wasabi Oreo released in China, and Collins pointed to more wasabi and white chocolate pairings in the future. Curry is another trend in sweets as Indian food gains wider mainstream acceptance. The growing popularity of North African and Mediterranean cuisine and their use of preserved lemons is helping grow salted citrus flavors, including lemons, limes, and grapefruits, in desserts. And smoked salts, a 2.0 version of flavored salts, are poised for growth, continued Collins.

Sweets and spices are another trend Thompson said could withstand COVID-19 uncertainty because consumers are cooking at home more during self-isolation. 

Incredible Spreadables. Global flavors in spreads are prevalent, said Thompson. Amba, from Iraq, is a tangy mango pickled spread made with turmeric. He also reported that chintestle, a smoked Oaxacan chile paste, is trending and that tahini will be branching into sweets like cookies and crème brulee. Beans, especially fava beans, are being converted into dips and spreads as well.

Global Horizons. Flavors from around the world continue to trend, said Laroche, with new regions growing in mainstream awareness and popularity. Rising chefs with Filipino roots will grow that country’s cuisine. India’s regional Keralan cuisine is trending with its Greek, Roman, Portuguese, and Dutch influences. Levantine cuisine from the Eastern Mediterranean, including Israeli, Turkish, and Lebanese foods, is growing with spices like sumac and za’atar as entry way items. And West African food from countries like Nigeria and Senegal continue to become more familiar to North American consumers. 

Trends tied to global cuisines help offer comfort in the form of escapism, said Thompson. People aren’t going out, but they are still open to trying new things. 

Related: Health, Wellness Trends Reverse as Americans Seek Comfort; ‘Sober Curious’ Movement Impacts Menus, New Products.

Andy Banton, president of Gil’s Gourmet, a Monterey, Calif.-based gourmet food manufacturer specializing in hand stuffed olives, garlic, infused olive oils, balsamic vinegars and wine-related products recently spoke with Specialty Food News about navigating the current business environment amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

What has helped you manage this crisis thus far?

As soon as it became apparent that things were getting weird back in January, and we started to see growth rates of the infection in other countries, I brought in a lot of agricultural inventory just to be safe—probably more than I should have. Having trust and solid long-standing relationships with our suppliers and customers I hope will help us come out on the other side.

Has anything unexpected happened?

We don't have a huge facility but I definitely have more of my fair share of inventory now, so I’m sitting on a lot of stuff. Usually we run with about two weeks-worth of inventory on our floor—it comes in, we make it and it immediately goes out. By me bringing in a lot of extra inventory—and maxing out most of my lines of credit—it kind of blew that model up. We are definitely not up, but, in the same breath, we have orders—especially for pasta sauce. There are a lot of people who don’t have anything. It’s a waiting game.

Did you have to re-direct your business model in anyway?

I am spending a lot time doing financial planning and modeling to see where I can redirect my business. The winery business—where are a lot of our focus was—is not coming back anytime soon and the olive bar business we had in grocery stores I anticipate will be going away. Our plan is to pivot into olives in jars and focus on more grocery retail. It’s not going to take me back to where I was, but will hopefully ramp up business to keep me going until things turn around.

Did you have to make any personnel changes?

I definitely had to make some changes and I’m operating with a smaller crew. I had to furlough a lot of my team; that was the hard thing. The question is, are they going to be able to come back and will they come back? You can’t blame people for applying to grocery stores and the Costco’s of the world.

How do you expect the CARES Act or other government plans to help you?

We are not getting paid by a lot of people and we are not paying a lot of people, unfortunately. But that is where the CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program will hopefully help. I’m looking at riding this out and do feel that things will start subsiding here in California in May.

What are your predictions for when this is all over?

If you can hang on for nine months you are going to be in a heck of a better place than you might be now. The survivor is the one that can actually make it through this.

If you have not spent the time to build trusting relationships you are going to see a lot of businesses go by the wayside.

I also predict no more self-service in stores. Safety is going to be paramount.

Everything is going to have to be shelf stable.

Sadly, the money that consumers do get back from the stimulus I don't think necessarily is going to go immediately back to gourmet foods, people need to pay the rent, mortgages, etc. or just may have to find a new job.

Related: The Impact of COVID-19: Q&A with Nona Lim; Paycheck Protection Program to Help Small Businesses Acquire Capital.

Food retailers’ in-store bakeries and delis experienced a steep drop-off in sales in late March as many supermarkets closed or limited these departments to reduce interaction between workers and shoppers during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report from International Dairy Deli Bakery Association.

“A lot of retailers closed the full-service counters, the buffets, the ready-to-order items, etc.,” said Anne-Marie Roerink, president of research firm 2010 Analytics, in a webinar on the report. “That really impacted deli meat, deli cheese, as well as deli prepared.”

Citing data from IRI, the IDDBA report said deli prepared foods sales were down 37.2 percent for the week of March 29, compared with the comparable period from a year ago, after seeing some sales gains earlier in March as consumers were stocking up. Some categories lost virtually all of their sales volume, such as prepared soups, which were down 93.5 percent as retailers closed down their self-serve soup and salad bars.

Many retailers began offering their prepared foods in refrigerated, grab-and-go formats, but those sales have tapered off as well.

“Now that people are fully stocked at home, we're actually seeing a little bit of a contraction of trips,” Roerink said.

She noted that consumers were likely shopping multiple stores and making multiple trips during the second and third weeks of March because many items were out of stock.

Consumers also transitioned to buying more prepackaged deli meats and cheeses, although random-weight deli meats and cheese still saw some gains. Dollar sales of random-weight cheese were up 16 percent in the last week of March, compared with a year ago, while fixed-weight cheese sales rose 32.7 percent. Random-weight deli meat sales rose 6.6 percent, while sales of packaged luncheon meat were up 22.3 percent.

“The above-average increase in both packaged luncheon meats and packaged cheese is a sign of increased demand, but also shoppers looking to speed up their store visits,” said Angela Bozo, education director with IDDBA, in the report.

In the service bakery, reduced demand for party items such as cakes and pies took a toll, and, with many bakeries closed, consumers shopped the packaged bakery aisle for staples such as bread and rolls, as well as comfort foods such as cookies and crackers.

In-store bakery sales fell 20.5 percent for the week ended March 29, vs. a year ago, while sales in the bakery aisle rose 15.3 percent.

For the most part, the dairy department continued to perform well throughout March, with sales up more than 60 percent in both the second and third week, compared with a year ago, and still up 22.2 percent in the week ended March 29. Butter, eggs, natural cheese, and processed cheese all saw strong, lasting sales gains, which Roerink attributed in part to more people baking at home.

“Growth would likely have been even higher if it wasn’t for stock-outs and purchase restrictions for items such as eggs and milk,” said Abrielle Backhaus, research coordinator with IDDBA, in the report.

Some of the suggestions Roerink offered for retailers during the webinar:

• Consider partnering with local restaurants to offer their prepared foods, as some retailers, including H-E-B, have done, which not only helps satisfy demand for ready-to-eat foods but could also earn some goodwill from the community.
• As more consumers turn to online ordering, retailers might consider reminding consumers that they have deli prepared foods and random-weight deli meats and cheeses available for pickup and/or delivery.
• Consumers may increasingly seek out comfort foods they can enjoy while they “cocoon” at home, such as cookies, wine, and chocolate, Roerink said, citing observations from grocery stores in China and Europe, where the virus first began spreading.
• Offer pre-sliced deli meats in single-serve or other small packages, rather than in one-pound packs. Among the shopper feedback cited in the report, as compiled by consumer research firm Retail Feedback Group, was that consumers often shop the deli for sliced-to-order meats because they can’t afford a full pound.
• Self-ordering deli kiosks should be cleaned frequently, if used at all — Roerink cited indications that consumers are hesitant about using touch screens at this time.

With young children out of school, college students back in the fold, and parents working from home, demand for groceries can be expected to remain high, the IDDBA report concluded. However, sales may be tempered by skyrocketing unemployment and looming economic uncertainty, which could lead consumers to trade down to less expensive items, such as private labels, and hold off on some more expensive purchases. Consumers are also likely to remain wary of crowds in the stores, and will likely try to get through their shopping trips as quickly as possible, if they don’t transition completely to online ordering.

Related: Packaged Food Sales Poised for Dramatic Growth; Meat Sales Increase in March.

Today’s specialty baking mixes and alternative flours provide a range of options for home chefs and their dietary needs, without compromising taste or quality. Here are some buyers’ picks in the category.

Amelia Rappaport, Woodstock Farmers’ Market, Woodstock, VT

• April’s Maple Cranberry Ginger Maple Crunch Scone Mix
• April’s Maple Maple Crunch Pancake Mix
• King Arthur Flour Gluten Free Fudge Brownie Mix
• Stonewall Kitchen Traditional Scone Mix

“Baking mixes offer shortcuts to a fantastic result. When you are used to buying quality baked goods but don’t have the time to make them from scratch, it’s a relief to know you can ‘cheat’ using an all-natural, premium-quality mix rather than a supermarket artificially flavored one.” —Amelia Rappaport, Woodstock Farmers’ Market, Woodstock, VT

Life Silva, Greene Grape Provisions, Brooklyn, NY

• Antimo Caputo Flours
• Baked Brooklyn Blackout Brownie Mix
• Baked Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies Mix
• Bob’s Red Mill Natural Almond Flour
• Farmer Ground Flour All Purpose Flour

Sergio Dorzier, Gourmet Garage, New York, NY

• Annie’s Organic Classic Yellow Cake Mix
• Bob’s Red Mill Chickpea Flour
• Bob’s Red Mill Grain Free Cassava Flour
• Stonewall Kitchen Buttermilk Pancake & Waffle Mix

Daniel Junk, Wheatsville Food Co-Op, Austin, TX

• Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour
• King Arthur Flours
• Pamela’s Cornbread & Muffin Mix
• Simple Mills Banana Muffin & Bread Almond Flour Mix

Jennifer Mayne, Dorothy Lane Market, Dayton, OH

• Bob’s Red Mill Flours
• Cup4Cup Multigrain Bread Mix
• King Arthur Almond Flour
• Koda Farms Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour
• Moon Rabbit Foods Gluten-Free Oatmeal Cookie Mix

“I love the Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour for frying Japanese- or Thai-style fried chicken or for frying oysters. Combining it with cornstarch results in a super crispy, crunchy crust.” — Jennifer Mayne, Dorothy Lane Market, Dayton, OH

Joel Payne, Depanneur, New York, NY

• Baked Brooklyn Blackout Brownie Mix
• Catskill Provisions Organic Pancake & Waffle Mix
• Farmer Ground Farmer All Purpose Flour
• Maine Grains Organic Pastry Flour
• Square Deal Farm Pancake Mix

Nuts are portable and pack a nutritious punch, making them an ideal on-the-go snack. But if you’re looking for more cream and less crunch, nut butters offer the same protein-packed flavor with the bonus of being spreadable on anything from toast to fruit. Here is a sampling of innovative new nuts and nut butter varieties hitting store shelves. 

Big Spoon Roasters Hot Mamba Peanut Butter with Chiles & Sea Salt. Spicy peanut butter is one of Haiti’s most popular condiments, and it’s present in almost every one of the country’s households and food markets. An homage to this spicy peanut butter tradition, Big Spoon Roasters’ Hot Mamba Peanut Butter blends freshly roasted and milled Runner peanuts, dried guajillo, ancho and habanero chilis, raw organic cane sugar, and sea salt to create a fiery spread. Combine it with your favorite pepper jelly on slices of banana or make it a base for a spicy dipping or noodle sauce. bigspoonroasters.com

Fiddyment Farms Barbeque Pistachios. Fiddyment Farms new and improved gourmet Barbeque pistachios are roasted and have a bold smoky flavor with the perfect amount of sweetness, all packed in a resealable bag available in a variety of sizes. Other Fiddyment Farms pistachio flavors include Chili Lime, Fiddy Fire, Garlic Onion, Lemon, Sea Salt & Pepper, Lightly Salted, and Salt Free. fiddymentfarms.com

Forty Thieves Salted Macadamia Butter with Maple and Vanilla Bean. This award-winning butter is crafted from a short list of premium ingredients including New Zealand grown macadamias, pure Canadian maple syrup, and real vanilla bean. Enjoy a treat packed with monounsaturated fats known for their heart-healthy benefits. Stir Salted Macadamia through coconut ice cream, pour over weekend pancakes, or drizzle over fresh fruit salad. kiwiimporter.com

Lehi Valley Trading Co. Ginger Citrus Almonds. These fresh and crisp almonds are smoothly glazed with cool citrus flavors and a hint of ginger. Lehi Valley Trading Co. is a snack food company with more than 30 years of experience and a strong commitment to superior quality, handcrafted products, and rigorous food safety standards. lehivalley.com

Marchese XXL Italian Chestnuts. Pre-peeled and precooked, Marchese’s XXL Italian chestnuts are ready to use in your favorite recipes. They can be added to any stuffing or dressing, or chopped to add texture and sweetness to grain salads, sautéed vegetables, and baked goods. Pureed chestnuts give body to soups or dips and lend sweetness to desserts like cakes, puddings, and even hot chocolate. marchesecastagne.com (Not pictured.)

Nature’s Greatest Foods Organic Hazelnut Spread. This hazelnut spread blends organic hazelnuts and chocolate. Try this USDA Organic and kosher certified spread on a piece of toast for breakfast or a banana for an enjoyable snack. Nature’s Greatest Foods is a brand under Greenfield Products, which has a mission to bring customers the freshest organic foods and make environmentally friendly household products more affordable. greenfieldproducts.us

Oregon Orchard Rosemary Hazelnuts. These hazelnuts are grown in Oregon, then quickly harvested, steam pasteurized, roasted in small batches, and seasoned with rosemary. They are rich, buttery, and provide a good crunch and piney aroma. Eat on-the-go, share with friends, or serve at parties. Oregon Orchard delivers high-quality hazelnut products made by the Hazelnut Growers of Oregon. oregonorchard.com

Santé Specialty Foods Bourbon Pecans. Pecans and bourbon: two of the best things the South has to offer, are paired together. Serve at your next Kentucky Derby party or jazz brunch, or any time you want to turn a regular snack into a celebration. Santé Specialty Foods is a woman-owned family business based in California’s Silicon Valley. santenuts.com

Setton Farms Chili Limón Seasoned Pistachios. Each resealable bag is packed with 3 ounces of shelled pistachios that are heart healthy, easy to enjoy on the go, and kid friendly. With no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, these all-natural, seasoned kernels are a good source of plant-based protein. Grown in California’s Central Valley, Setton Farms pistachios are vegan, Non-GMO Project verified, certified gluten-free, and kosher. All Setton Farms pistachios are roasted and packaged using renewable energy and eco-friendly practices. settonfarms.com

SuperFat Macadamia Coconut Nut Butter. Macadamia and almond nut butter packed with plant-based fats for deliciously creamy super fuel to support metabolism and brain function. SuperFat is a new brand of nut butters started by the founders of Grasshopper that are made with simple ingredients like MCT, probiotics, and cacao. superfat.com 

Find more products from Specialty Food Association members in the Product Marketplace on specialtyfood.com.

Arielle Feger is content associate for Specialty Food. 

Consumers’ growing focus on eating a healthy diet has contributed to the rise of the “sober curious” trend—the interest in non-alcoholic drinks that mirror the complexity of alcoholic beverages.

“There seems to be a collective shift in how our culture relates to consumption,” said Jocasta Hanson, owner of Honey Elixir Bar in Denver.

The bar is known for concoctions such as Unicorn Heart Song, which includes house-made coconut mylk, vanilla butterfly pea flower, rainbow lemurian flowers and other exotic ingredients. Many of the non-alcoholic “potions” on the menu contain herbal crystals, and many of the drinks feature on-trend functional ingredients such as ashwagandha, damiana and tribulus. Honey Elixir Bar also offers a selection of more traditional cocktails with unique touches.

“I think on a grand scale people are becoming more keenly aware of the effects of outside stimulus on the body,” said Hanson.

She says Honey Elixir Bar doesn’t view its non-alcoholic drinks as “mocktails,” and non-alcoholic drinks for the sober-curious are sometimes called, because they are not modeled after traditional alcoholic drinks.

“Instead we are crafting conceptual drinks that may elicit a thought or feeling,” she says. “We curate color, vessel, herbal ingredients, methodology and other non-traditional ingredients, each of which support the ‘idea’ of the drink,” says Hanson.

According to Mintel research, more and more consumers are shunning alcohol or at least cutting back. Mintel reported that total U.S. per capita alcohol consumption decreased an estimated 3 percent from 2015 to 2019. In addition, the the incidence of mocktails on restaurant menus increased 32 percent for the year ending in the third quarter of 2019.

“A cultural shift is underway in how consumers perceive both alcohol and sobriety,” said Caleb Bryant, associate director, food and drink at Mintel, in a recent blog post. “The wellness movement has extended to the alcohol market with many wellness-minded consumers rethinking their relationship with alcohol in order to lead healthier lives.”

The movement has helped drive the popularity of temporary “alcohol vacations” such as Sober October and Dry January, and spawned hash tags on social media such as #SoberCurious and #SoberIsSexy.

Other bars and restaurants around the country have also expanded their “zero proof” drink offerings, and several products, such as shrubs and various mixers, have emerged for making non-alcoholic drinks.

Last year Adam Fleischman, the founder of Umami Burger, opened a pop-up bar in Los Angeles called Sour Tooth that featured his Pinnacle Potions non-alcoholic beverage brand, which makes a variety of apple cider vinegar-based shrubs.

Ben Branson, founder of Seedlip, a maker of mixers that are used in non-alcoholic cocktails, said consumers’ increased awareness around health issues has helped drive the trend.

“Globally, we are at the beginning of a paradigm shift in the role that drinking plays in people’s lives,” he says. “People are increasingly more mindful of their health, and this is forcing a recalibration of our relationship with alcohol.”

Branson sees four key cultural forces driving what he calls this “zero proof” movement:

1. Increased awareness of the impact of foods and beverages on health. “We have an unprecedented amount of information at our fingertips and curiosity to understand what we put in our bodies,” he said.
2. Increased consciousness that our public behavior could go viral. “No one wants THAT video appearing on Instagram,” Branson notes.
3. Consumers are interested in the quality of the ingredients in the products they consume, as well as issues around sourcing.
4. Consumers are busier than ever balancing their hectic lifestyles. “We have less time to waste—especially being hung over," he said.

Another ingredient that is making its way into the non-alcoholic drink trend is the rise of CBD-infused beverages. Last year, Sprig, a maker of CBD-infused sodas, unveiled an array of mocktail recipes using its beverages.

“CBD gives a non-alcoholic beverage a functional aspect by offering a natural calmness and sense of relaxation,” said Ethan Feffer, founder and CEO of the Newport Beach, Calif.-based company.

Hanson of Honey Elixir Bar said “legal/financial” issues have limited her use of CBD at her establishment, however.

“We did have a CBD beverage on the menu, and will continue to try to utilize this sought-after and on-demand ingredient,” she said.

Related: AB InBev Adds Low and No-Alcohol Beverages; Health Approaches Vary by Generation.

Photo: Bonni Pacheco Photography