The Food & Beverage industry, somewhat like the fashion industry, is all about trends.
If, on the one hand, local culinary traditions and production methods are committed to handing down, from generation to generation, ancient recipes and indigenous raw materials, on the other hand, the ingenuity of chefs and the intuition of entrepreneurs and technicians involved in the sector tend to continuously experiment with solutions and innovative combinations to be launched on the market.
The beverage sector is rather complex, in this sense, also because it is made up of very old productions, which have their roots in times that probably predate the spread of western civilization.
Wine and beer are notoriously the most consumed drinks by adults. You can find schools, cultures, even training courses that teach them to appreciate different scents and nuances, which often characterise and distinguish products that even come from the same company.
These are true sacred monsters that have always dominated the market, with specimens that are sometimes sold at auction for staggering sums.
In this, where do younger drinks stand?
Alongside the more historical drinks, for which, indeed, a certain culture is required in order for them to be fully appreciated, over time many others have sprung up that are mainly intended for a somewhat younger audience, but have also spread to more adult ones.
We are referring to those drinks that whet the palate, which have made bubbles the true protagonists of taste, without particularly demanding dietrology or scientific procedures aimed at maintaining the typical perlage of a more sparkling drink.
They are ready-to-drink beverages, light, carefree, suitable for any meal. These drinks are really creating a fashion, which is known as the Ready to Drink Trend, and among its most interesting representatives one, in particular, is gaining a foothold in the major markets of the West, including the English one, the Hard Seltzer.
With a low alcohol content, a sugary, flavored taste and great drinking convenience, the young and innovative Hard Seltzer is the latest beverage trend in the UK too.
The Hard Seltzer UK Market
According to statista.com, the Hard Seltzers UK market is booming, starting this year.
According to the data, taken in June 2023, they show a constant prospective growth, at least in the next four years, with sales volumes currently standing at 7.12 million litres and expected to reach even 15.44 million litres in 2027, an increase of 116.57%.
An increase that has not seen a halt since 2019, when this new drink also started to appear in the UK market.
On the other hand, already the report by Matthew Langley, an expert on data and statistics concerning the major food and drink brands, The DRTY Hard Seltzer Handbook, predicted UK Hard Seltzer market values of around 75 million pounds, just for 2023.
We will have to wait until the end of the year to understand whether these values were under or overestimated.
What Makes Hard Seltzer So Special In The Uk?
To understand exactly what makes this young drink special, it is first necessary to understand what we are talking about.
Hard Seltzer falls into the category of low-alcohol beers (around 4-6%), as it is obtained through a fermentation process.
The idea first occurred to Nick Schields, when in 2012, in Connecticut, he wanted to create a ready-to-drink, affordable cocktail based on beer, but enhanced with spices, sugars, fruit and other aromas that made it extremely pleasant and perfect for anyone’s palate.
This drink immediately became an undisputed success in the United States, but many other breweries, starting in Northern Europe, where the beer tradition is most strongly felt, have begun to experiment with this new market.
Fresh, bubbly, extremely trendy and appealing, its popularity in post-study or work socializing moments was immediate.
The low alcohol content made it particularly easy to drink and tolerate, and the often very colourful and eye-catching packaging certainly played its part too.
Today, finding a can of Hard Seltzer in any English pub or supermarket is child’s play, and it has become almost a personal challenge to find and test the most original flavours, from mandarin to blueberry, from red grapefruit to orange.
One can, therefore, easily conclude that this is the new trend of the moment and that its success seems to be only just beginning.
