Fruit flavours are back in the spotlight with trends developing around the world for apple-, berry- and citrus-flavoured drinks. Chocolate and other confectionery flavours are struggling as consumers shy away from overly sweet flavours.
Whether flavouring strong spirits, wines or low-alcohol drinks, consumers are favouring fresh and light fruit flavours, according to findings in the new IWSR Insight Report 2013.
In Argentina younger consumers are choosing light-flavoured liqueurs (e.g. lemon, kiwi and melon) over chocolate and other sweet flavours. In the US traditional fruit flavours, such as red berries or dark cherry, are gaining momentum.
There has been an increased interest in strawberry-flavoured drinks across the globe and across categories, with growth seen for strawberry-flavoured rum in Puerto Rico, strawberry mixed with rakija (a local bitter) in Bosnia & Herzegovina, strawberry- (and lime-) flavoured cider in Australia and New Zealand and strawberry- and blackcurrant-flavoured sparkling wine in Hungary.
According to the IWSR Insight Report 2013, citrus is another key flavour group and has become a key flavour in the sizeable flavoured sparkling wine market in Germany, while there has been a boom in grapefruit-flavoured wine in France. The trend towards grapefruit-flavoured drinks has also extended to beer, gaining popularity in countries such as Germany, Serbia and Slovenia.
In China both lime and orange Bacardi Breezers have seen exceptional success, and citrus-flavoured liqueurs are seeing good growth in Argentina. The trend towards citrus-flavoured drinks is strong in Europe – lemon and lime flavours are popular in Latvia, and limoncello is growing strongly as a category in the Netherlands.
Other findings in the IWSR Insight Report 2013 show that apple-flavoured spirits including vodka and rum are growing strongly in Brazil where Bacardi Big Apple has stormed the market, leading to the creation of a large number of copy-cat apple-flavoured vodka and rum brands. Apple vodka is also becoming popular in Korea and Thailand where it is the main ingredient for the popular ‘The Thailand cocktail’ and has been driving the flavoured segment upwards. The launch of Smirnoff Ice Green Apple has turned around the ready-to-drink (RTD) category in Jamaica.
About the IWSR Insight Report 2013
The IWSR Insight Report 2013 highlights the trends behind the numbers. It is deliberately light on volume data, and instead focuses on written insights, giving concrete examples of – and explanations for – the latest trends. As in previous editions of this report, we have compiled the most innovative, pioneering and cutting-edge trends from the global alcoholic drinks industry. The IWSR Insight Report 2013 offers unique observations about every important alcoholic drinks category in all corners of the world. This year’s report is double the size of last year’s release, with more detail and wider coverage than ever before.
About the IWSR
The IWSR is the leading provider of data on wine, spirits and RTDs. The IWSR’s database, essential to the industry, is used by all of the largest multinational wine and spirits companies, as well as many more local companies. The IWSR has a unique methodology which, by tapping into local country expertise, allows us to get closer to what is actually consumed and better understand how markets work. The IWSR conducts face-to-face interviews with 1,500 companies in 115 countries each year, with further input from 350 companies. The IWSR tracks overall consumption and trends at brand, quality and category level for wine, spirits and RTDs, and aims to provide data that is as accurate and detailed as possible.