Shaking up the market

AS cocktails become the drink of choice for a growing number of consumers, one producer is aiming to take the stress out of mixology with a range of seven pre-batched cocktails.

Gerry Smyth, founder and director of drinks wholesaler Bear Smyth, said the launch of Shake ‘n’ Serve cocktails was a natural next step having supplied arenas with pre-filled wine glasses.

With the drinks now available to the on-trade, SLTN caught up with the man behind the beverages to find out about the new product and his thoughts on the cocktail market in general.

Q. What are the advantages of having pre-batched cocktails in the on-trade?

A. Research has shown that it can take up to fourteen minutes to make a cocktail, from joining the queue at a bar to receiving the drink. If customers are on a big night out with their friends, they just don’t want to wait ten or fifteen minutes for a cocktail. What we’re doing is providing operators with an option to deliver great tasting cocktails without them losing valuable sales time.

Q. With the festive party season underway, have you seen an increase in demand for the products?

A. We’ve been inundated, mainly by operators who have functions on or Christmas parties as this is just such a good way for them to deliver something tasty very quickly. In regards to functions and events, so many people are requesting a cocktail list as standard and it can frighten people in the trade that just don’t have that kind of experience in-house, whereas now they can deal with a high cocktail demand in their venues over the Christmas period.

Q. What developments in the cocktail market do you expect to see going forward?

A.  I think it’s going to get bigger and better as the customer is trying to be much more experiential. However, a lot of people will go back to their tried and tested favourites. High-end bars are delivering the next wave of cocktails that will become more trendy than what went before them. Every two years, you have one or two new cocktails coming on board but ultimately customers will still come back to their classic cocktail.