Stateways

StateWays - March/April 2015

StateWays is the only magazine exclusively covering the control state system within the beverage alcohol industry, with annual updates from liquor control commissions and alcohol control boards and yearly fiscal reporting from control jurisdictions

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43 StateWays ■ www.stateways.com ■ March/April 2015 country is the likely engine for the growth. That regional expansion is not new to the category. "In the Mid- west, liquor stores often offer cordial aisles tens of feet long, but that's not the case in most places," Lynch says. Lines like Pucker do especially well in the Midwest, where the sweet and sour shot occasion is still alive and well. Bols, too, sees a spike in curaçao, blue and plain, with triple sec, melon and apple liqueurs as well, says Lucas Bols USA marketing manager Jaron Berkhemer. He believes the period of slow decline for lines of cordials is about to turn around now that the confection vodka craze has faded and consumers revert to traditional cordials for their mixability. Even specialty cocktail item Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao has caught fi re - up 33 percent in the off-premise in 2014, according to company fi gures, and now sold in 37 states. "We expect the pure lines of cordials to start growing, and a lot of that growth we project to be in the premium segment," Berkhemer says. "People are starting to want clean, original fl avors, and rather than looking at fl avored vodkas, they are now going back to apple liqueurs and coffee liqueurs for more authenticity." Going forward, brands will need to increase their attention to cocktail culture, he says, with the consumer following the bartender in trading up. Authenticity is important as well — after purchasing Galliano, Bols returned it to the original recipe in the U.S., where a sweeter version had long been sold instead. "People are looking for authenticity and heritage," he adds. TRENDY AND MIXABLE The many types of fl avor items in the category - creams, coffees, fruits, schnapps, etc. - make for a fragmented fi eld to fi gure, says DeKuyper's Lynch. "Long term, there's been a lot of consistency in popularity in fruit-based fl avors, while the creams are a little less popular overall. And I see fewer of the sort of broad category trend existing than trends growing off individual cocktails getting popu- lar." With 70 fl avors in the DeKuyper, Pucker and John DeKuyper and Sons lines, Lynch is optimistic that whenever a new cocktail hits, his line will be able to benefi t. Bowden of BevMo agrees about cocktails, and sees liqueurs benefi ting as cocktails get a little less complicated. "Five years ago, the cocktails were very complicated, but today, the consumer is looking for a way to use very high quality items at home," he says. "We don't see mixology going away. In the past, cordials used to be, for the most, part not especially presented as mixable. Going forward they have to keep thinking about cocktail culture as consumers are more engaged in that culture and they need to have products that fi t that niche." Even RumChata has benefi ted signifi cantly from its mix- ability. "Our mixologist works with new items and suggestions from our fans on a weekly basis and is working on creating new drink recipes all the time," Maas says. "We know that if we continue to show people new and unique ways to drink RumChata they will do the rest. We currently have more than 150 drink recipes on our website and are updating it monthly with new drinks and ideas." SW1503

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