Insights

Turning Festive Occasions into Opportunities

Soft drinks remain an important category to outlets, worth £7.4bn and seeing a 46% growth year-on-year [1]. This opportunity is exuberated during seasonal occasions like Christmas, when there is a rise in social occasions and therefore high demand for a variety of soft drinks options and mixers.

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Christmas is undoubtedly one of the biggest and most important seasons of the year for hospitality, although this year we expect to see a polarised market. While some consumers will no doubt be more conscious of spend, others will be on the lookout for more premium experiences, especially around the festive season when people are generally willing to spend a bit extra. This means outlets must offer experiences and packages that cater towards both consumer types to capitalise on the Christmas occasion this year.

In fact, what we are seeing across the board is that people are visiting pubs, bars and restaurants less often, with many reporting a growing preference for quality over quantity in terms of food and drink.^[2] Operators therefore must consider including offers and deals on their menus, so consumers feel they are getting good value for money, while also offering more premium options for those looking to treat themselves during the festive season.

Cocktails & Mixers

Cocktails are worth an impressive £686m in hospitality, having risen by +132% in the past year^[3], representing a significant growth opportunity for outlets. Cocktails and mocktails can give pubs and bars even more special serves that guests just can’t replicate as well at home. In fact, 88% of consumers also say they want bars and pubs to provide them with an experience they cannot get at home^[4], so this provides the perfect opportunity to do so.

Premium serves and cocktails have a big role to play here. Operators can get creative with flavours associated with Christmas such as cherry, dried fruit, cranberry, ginger, mixed spice and peppermint and offer serves in branded glassware with ice and festive garnishes. This will elevate the customer experience and also increase revenue.

Britvic Cocktail Mixers

Britvic has recently launched three new Cocktail Mixers to help operators create the perfect serve and demand for cocktails. The range features Mojito, Piña Colada and Strawberry Daiquiri mixers and will help bartenders prepare perfect drinks every time, just by adding the chosen spirit needed to mix up classic cocktails. The new Cocktail Mixers give operators a chance to streamline serving times especially with such a busy season coming up.