Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2022 i Market Watch

In a category that has been slumbering for years in the U.S., the makers of blended Scotch whisky are refreshing their portfolios with new age statements and barrel finishes, as well as exploring creative promotional tie-ins to revive a struggling segment of the Scotch business. Category leader Johnnie Walker has launched myriad expressions with each passing year, and has prospered in the process. Now an increasing number of its rivals are borrowing from that playbook and expanding their offerings. And marketers who were once cautious about pricing above the key $25 a 750-ml. threshold have found that consumers today aren’t balking at prices north of $30 for interesting super-premium blends. The category’s second-largest brand, Dewar’s, is a good example. Dewar’s White Label ($22 a 750-ml.) is supplemented by premium portfoliomates…

A be Vucekovich, beverage director for Chicago’s Meadowlark Hospitality, notes that since the Covid-19 pandemic hit, at-home and professional bartenders alike are looking for more streamlined approaches to making cocktails. “They’re looking for less touches to drinks but still a lot of flavor, and amaro provides that,” he says. “An amaro is multi-dimensional in terms of flavor volume—everything is turned up to an 11 out of 10. You get a lot of ‘bang for your buck’ with an amaro when creating a cocktail.” The Italian bitter liqueur certainly is a favorite among cocktail bartenders. “I love mixing with amaro because it’s an extremely versatile cocktail ingredient due to the variety of styles, including rich, sweet, dry, lightly bitter, very bitter, savory, earthy, spicy—the list goes on,” says Matty Carrol, director…

Armed with a law degree from Boston University, John Halper worked for one of the most elite firms in New York as a young man, and later migrated to Minneapolis to specialize in corporate practice for some of the city’s biggest companies. Yet somehow it was retail that got his attention. After a series of investments and acquisitions, Halper, at the age of 54, now spends his days overseeing inventory levels and shopping rival merchants’ prices as the owner and CEO of Top Ten Liquors in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. The law books have been shoved aside as Halper presides over one of the Gopher State’s fastest-growing beverage alcohol retail chains, currently spanning a dozen stores. Top Ten got its start in 2014 when Halper, who had worked for…

From a single seafood restaurant in Texas to a multi-billion-dollar corporation that owns myriad restaurant concepts, as well as hotels, casinos, and amusement parks, Landry’s, Inc. has evolved immensely over its 40-year history. The on-premise power-house has become a leader in dining, hospitality, and entertainment, boasting roughly 600 locations around the globe under well-known banners like Chart House, Del Frisco’s, Houlihan’s, McCormick & Schmick’s, Morton’s Steakhouse, The Palm, and Golden Nugget. The company, which remains privately held by entrepreneur Tilman J. Fertitta, has a presence in nearly every major market in the country, as well as several international ones. But for all of its massive growth moves, Landry’s, Inc. had humble beginnings. The company got its start in the Houston suburb of Katy, Texas in 1980, when Fertitta became a…

You know a beer festival has made it big when it’s hosted on the same hallowed grounds where Woodstock was held more than 50 years ago. That was the case for TAP New York earlier this year, when New York State’s longest-running craft beer festival was staged for the first time at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, the non-profit performance venue and site of the iconic 1969 Woodstock music festival. According to Paul Lloyd, general manager of Bethel Woods, response to the two-day festival—now in its 23rd year after its humble beginnings at the Culinary Institute of America—was “terrific, with more than 3,500 guests enjoying close to 400 carefully crafted beers from more than 100 breweries across New York State.” Indeed, after a two-year pause for numerous beer festivals…

Chicago: Canal Street Venue Opens With Italian-Themed Restaurant And Bar Located in the new 320 South Canal building in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood, Canal Street Market and Eatery opened in August with retail and restaurant elements. The Market by Spearhead Hospitality offers upscale deli sandwiches, pastries, and coffee, as well as a gourmet retail space that incorporates drinks and curated picnic baskets containing bottled cocktails and wines. Adjacent to this in the same 11,000-square-foot space, Canal Street Eatery boasts an Italian-inspired menu with handmade pastas, wood-fired pizzas, and larger entrées ranging from steak with marrow butter to salmon piccata (food is $8-$28). The Eatery has a full Italian-themed beverage program, including wines like Selvaggio Prosecco, ColleStefano Verdicchio di Matelica, and Donnafugata Sherazade Nero d’Avolo ($10-$16 a glass; $45-$75 a 750-ml.).…

Around the single malt Scotch industry, sales and marketing experts are exhaling again: The unforeseen sales dip in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic and new import taxes has turned out to be short-lived. Single malt, in fact, is back. That might come as a surprise to some, as the hottest spirits categories in the past few years have been rivals Bourbon and Irish whiskeys. Sales of those spirits have skyrocketed, sometimes at the expense of Scotch, but single malt Scotch is staging a comeback. After volume declined 5% in 2020, single malt rebounded in the U.S. last year, gaining nearly 10% to more than 1.9 million 9-liter cases, according to Impact Databank. Importers agree that sales in the current year remain on a solid upward trajectory, and are expected to…

In January 2021, importer Vineyard Brands expanded its portfolio with the addition of Miguel Torres Chile, the Chilean wine outpost of the renowned Familia Torres of Spain. The label filled a gap for Vineyard Brands, which was without a Chilean wine, and company president and CEO Gregory Doody called it “a perfect fit” for the portfolio. Now, nearly two years later, Doody remains enthused about the brand and the Chilean category overall, despite some strong headwinds that have dampened demand over the past several years. “[It’s an appealing space because] of the varietals—there’s a broad range of wines from Chile,” he says. “Producers, and Miguel Torres in particular, make some outstanding wines at very reasonable price points.” Other importers also note both the breadth of selection and the strong quality-price…

Boxed wine continues to show progress even as the growth for top brands slows, with more brands and new players entering the space with each passing year. This once-dull category has become a proving ground for innovative concepts, including better-for-you products and alternative packaging that emphasizes convenience and sustainability. The 5-liter and 3-liter box remain the dominant formats, with the 3-liter size continuing its multi-year climb. And while the move upscale continues to be somewhat elusive for boxed wine, the entry of new high-end players has enlivened the category and bodes well for future premiumization trends. Franzia remains the largest boxed wine player by volume in the U.S. and globally, at around 22 million cases in the U.S. Last year it launched a new sub-line of Franzia Refreshers, targeted at…