In the non-alcoholic drinks segment, two very different responses are emerging to one shared consumer sensitivity: on one side, the demand for simple, recognisable ingredients; on the other, the expectation that an everyday product like water should be practical and trustworthy. These are distinct cases, but both suggest that a drink’s value today also depends […]
To understand where contemporary bartending is heading, it helps to look at some of the profiles drawing attention now: many begin with personal stories, family memories, places of origin or a single sensory impression. That does not describe the entire industry, but it does capture a clear pattern among part of the new generation behind […]
Some categories look stable until you zoom in. Mineral water is one of them: a daily product, seemingly uncomplicated, that in Germany is now shaped by three very concrete pressures. On one side, some flavoured, sugar-free lines are finding room with consumers. On another, returnable glass remains an important format for several regional producers. In […]
One shift is becoming increasingly visible across the spirits landscape: traditional distilled categories are losing momentum, while spirits-based ready-to-drink products keep gaining ground. It is less a clean break than a sign that consumption occasions are changing, and that the category is now moving at more than one speed. In Germany, according to BSI, the […]
There is an interesting shift in the way some non-alcoholic drinks are being conceived and presented today: not just as substitutes, but as products with a reason to exist on their own. This is not yet a rule of the market, nor a uniform transformation. But in three recent, very different cases, the movement is […]
One word keeps coming up more and more often in serious conversations about high-end tea: authenticity. Not in an abstract sense, but as a very concrete question about who makes what, where, from which raw material, and with what story attached. Rather than pointing to a single global shift, three recent cases help show how […]
Germany’s beer market closed 2025 at a new historical low, with consumption at around 78 million hectolitres. The figure points to a sector under pressure, but rather than a definitive turning point, what is unfolding looks more like a set of company-by-company adjustments inside a still difficult market. The slowdown has several roots. A weak […]
One word has carried a lot of weight in the non-alcoholic beverage space: substitute. For years, it helped define how these drinks were described, formulated and placed on shelves. Now, a few brands are trying to shift the conversation elsewhere. This is not a finished industry reset, but three recent cases that point in the […]
For a long time, craft beer carried a very specific image problem: it was seen as a drink for enthusiasts. A real audience, but a narrow one. Today, some companies are trying to broaden that circle by changing not just what they brew, but the flavour cues, the drinking occasion and the way the beer […]
American whiskey appears to be moving through a slowdown and rebalancing phase, with inventories still elevated and consumers more selective. In that context, some distilleries are trying to build value beyond the bottle itself, leaning on experience, a sense of place, and brand heritage as ways to strengthen loyalty. This is not a portrait of […]