Innehållsförteckning för July - August 2015 från Market Watch

Back in 1999, Sushi Samba opened its first location in New York City, inspired by the food and beverage cultures of Japan, Brazil and Peru. The operation was way ahead of its time, and 16 years later it remains at the cutting edge. Parent company Samba Brands Management now boasts a portfolio that includes five Sushi Samba locations, as well as South American venue Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill, Mediterranean-themed Bocce and European-style Duck & Waffle—all stylish, design-intensive venues with great drinks programs that contribute a whopping 40 percent to total annual revenues. Originally, the company’s focus was on Caipirinhas, Mojitos and sake, and all three are growing fast. But today the scene is a global party that features plenty of other drinks options from around the world. Unquestionably, one of…

• Chef Julian Serrano unveiled his upscale dining destination Lago in April in the Bellagio Las Vegas resort. Overlooking one of the hotel-casino’s famed fountains, the contemporary Milan-inspired restaurant emphasizes small plates and features an Italian-themed cocktail menu, along with more than 700 wines. • Manhattan nightlife veteran Pedro Zamora debuted the upscale Mexican concept Cantina Rooftop in May. The indoor-outdoor space boasts a menu of classic and contempo-rary Mexican fare, offering full entrées and small plates. The beverage program includes specialty cocktails, bottle service, and myriad Tequilas and mezcals. • The New York City –based Il Mulino concept added a fourth restaurant, opening a new location in the Hilton hotel in Nashville, Tennessee’s Downtown area in April. The venue serves cuisine from Italy’s Abruzzo region updated with local influences…

Roca Patrón Roca Patron, a new Tequila range from The Patron Spirits Co., debuted last summer and is doing well. “We’ve been very pleased with sell-in and sell-through,” says chief marketing officer Lee Applbaum. “Feedback from the trade and consumers has been overwhelmingly positive.” Made using the traditional tahona process—a technique that crushes the agave beneath a 2-ton stone wheel—Roca Patron has a complex, earthy, agave-forward flavor. The brand comes in three variants (alcohol-by-volume ranges from 42 percent to 45 percent): Silver ($69 a 750-ml. bottle), Reposado ($79) and Anejo ($89). “Silver is the top performer in the Roca portfolio, although there’s more of a balance than in our core line,” Applbaum says. Cannibalization has been minimal, with most consumers coming from other ultra-premium spirits. Patron is building Roca in…

A head of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, exports of cachaca—the country’s national spirit—notably increased, according to Campari America vice president of marketing Umberto Luchini. The company owns Sagatiba cachaca, which features the unaged Pura, the aged Velha and the extraaged Presiosa expressions. “In 2013, total export volumes for cachaca increased by just over 13 percent compared to 2012, with $16.6 million worth of cachaca exported from Brazil to other countries,” Luchini says. “The United States is Brazil’s second-largest cachaca market after Germany, with about 78,000 cases imported in 2013.” The World Cup certainly helped expand exposure of cachaca, and as more brands become available in the U.S. market, this awareness will only continue to grow. “Cachaca used to be available only in specific pockets of the country, but…

Bacardi Ltd. has established Centers of Excellence in North America and Europe, each headed by a chief marketing officer who will report to CEO Mike Dolan. Mauricio Vergara, who joined Bacardi in 2013, will oversee North America and act as global lead for Bacardi rum and Grey Goose vodka. Overseeing Europe, Shayne Hoyne comes to Bacardi from William Grant & Sons. In addition, Bacardi global chief marketing officer Dima Ivanov is leaving the company. Edrington Americas made several changes to its senior executive team. Former vice president and division manager of the Northeast USA Christopher Spalding was promoted to senior vice president and commercial director of North America. He has worked with Edrington since 2003. Meanwhile, former vice president of marketing for North America Jim Brennan was promoted to senior…

Mast-Jägermeister Buys Sidney Frank....Germany’s Mast-Jägermeister is acquiring its U.S. marketer Sidney Frank Importing Co. for an undisclosed sum. Under Sidney Frank’s stewardship, Jägermeister was long one of the U.S. spirits market’s biggest success stories, but the brand has lost nearly 30 percent of its volume over the past five years. The German herbal liqueur’s annual U.S. sales jumped from around 200,000 cases in 1990 to nearly 2.9 million cases in 2008, backed primarily by on-premise promotional activity. However, after modest declines in 2009, 2010 and 2011, the brand began dropping more sharply with the rise of Fireball, the Canadian whisky–infused cinnamon liqueur that has become the shot of choice for younger consumers. Sidney Frank also markets Gekkeikan sake, American Harvest organic spirit, Casamigos Tequila and Mast-Jägermeister’s Barenjäger liqueur. The New…

• The operators of New York City’s Mexican restaurant Tijuana Picnic, which opened this past December on the Lower East Side, unveiled their new subterranean Tico’s Tequila Bar in May. Offering more than 80 Tequilas and mezcals, the drinks den serves cocktails and spirits flights, as well as tacos and light fare. • The Empire Room opened in San Francisco in May in a mammoth 8,000-square-foot space that incorporates private VIP rooms, plush lounges, a bespoke cocktail parlor and dance areas. Along with drinks of every kind, the venue offers food from the city’s top food truck chefs. The Empire Room’s interior is modeled after a ballroom and has an upbeat vibe. • Marriott International’s new AC Hotel Miami Beach unveiled the drinks den AC Lounge in May. Created in…

New Zealand wowed its wine audience again last year in the United States, as volumes continued expanding far faster than the overall import category. Over the past several years, the country’s growth has been at double-digit rates. “I thought New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc would level out in 2014,” says Gary Clayton, vice president and director of marketing at Pasternak Wine Imports. The company’s New Zealand portfolio includes Dashwood and Goldwater. “It’s actually advanced at a faster clip in the first quarter of 2015 than all of last year,” Clayton adds. “New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is connecting in terms of style, quality and image.” Jan Petrow, senior vice president at Vineyard Brands—marketer of New Zealand wines Mohua and Peregrine—is also surprised by the segment’s ongoing popularity. “The 2014 crop was significantly…

It may be centuries old, but Pineau des Charentes is currently having a moment. Bartenders are gravitating to the French aperitif, touting its versatility in cocktails and its ability to add flavor and richness without weighing a drink down. Made from a variety of grapes in the Cognac region, the fortified wine works well as a mixer with several spirits types, providing sweet fruit notes and acidity with low alcohol. “Pineau des Charentes is a great way to add flavor and depth without too much sugar,” says Craig Schoettler, the property mixologist for Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. “Pineau allows us to achieve balance in dry cocktails. It’s not widely known, but it’s a great talking piece. Explaining the product and its versatility engages the guest.” Schoettler uses…

On-Premise News Taco Bell Debuts Alcohol Menu At New Chicago Unit A soon-to-open Taco Bell restaurant in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood will offer a full beverage alcohol menu, the first U.S. location of the Mexican-inspired fast food chain to do so. The new Taco Bell prototype, which is slated to open this summer, will serve beer, wine and slushy cocktails in a sleek urban space. The mixed alcohol freezes will incorporate spirits into frozen offerings already featured on Taco Bell’s menu, including the Mountain Dew Baja Blast and Starburst Strawberry. All drinks containing alcohol will be served in specially designed cups so that employees can easily distinguish them from soda and water, and employees will reportedly be trained using National Restaurant Association alcohol service guidelines. A division of Yum! Brands,…

The Umami Factorr Brewer and vintner Robert Rivelle George has written a book that ex plores the role umami—the fifth taste—plays in fermented beverages. Subtitled “Full-Spectrum Fermentation for the 21st Century,” this 272-page tome ($39.99) features more than 75 recipes for beer, cider, sake, wine and spirits, along with detailed techniques and instructions for setting up brewing facilities, sourcing ingredients, aging, bottling and cellaring. The hardcover, which debuted in May, also includes in-depth information on various grains, fruits, hops, malts and yeasts and 242 full-color photos. For more information, visit Schifferbooks.com. Avex Spirits Line Sports bottle maker Avex released its first line of products specifically created for enjoying beverage alcohol outdoors in June. Designed for beer, the 20-ounce Brew ($24.99) comes in blue, green or black and has a bottle…

Laphroaig 15-Year-Old Scotch Whisky Beam Suntory introduced a new whisky to celebrate the 200th anniversary of its Laphroaig distillery this summer. Laphroaig 15-year-old ($79.99 a 750-ml. bottle) has flavors of peppercorn, citrus and salt, with light peat smoke. The 43-percent alcohol-by-volume (abv) spirit is available nationwide. For more information, visit Laphroaig.com or call Beam Suntory at 847-948-8888. Sauza Cucumber Chili Tequila Beam Suntory also launched Sauza Tequila’s first flavor extension this summer. Sauza Cucumber Chili ($15.99 a 750-ml. bottle) has cucumber and green chili notes, with a spicy finish. The new 35-percent abv offering is available nationwide. For more information, visit Sauzatequila.com or call Beam Suntory at 847-948-8888. Tanqueray Bloomsbury Gin Diageo North America released a limited-edition offering from its Tanqueray brand in July. Tanqueray Bloomsbury ($32.99 a 750-ml. bottle)…

In 2001, before the craft beer craze took America by storm, the San Diego–based chain Keg N Bottle began specializing in beer from Belgium. “We got our hands on any Belgian beers we could—it really separated us from other liquor stores and bottle shops,” recalls Tony Konja, president of the family-owned company. While Konja’s seven beverage alcohol stores still stock more than 250 Belgian beer SKUs ($6 to $40 a 750-ml. bottle), he says the segment has lost market share to domestic craft beer. Konja—who also operates two restaurants in Southern California—points to Belgian-style craft brews in particular for eroding Belgian beers’ stake in the U.S. market. Indeed, many retailers and marketers of Belgian beers say the imported brews—generally produced in an Old World tradition—are losing out to trendy crafts…

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and if that’s the case, sangria has earned some high praise. The wine-based beverage’s popularity and strong growth have evolved into a whole new world of innovation both within and outside the category, including the introduction of sangria-flavored variants to the Skyy and UV vodka brands this past spring. And while long-established sangria brands continue to gain, category newcomers are also making their mark. Last year, Constellation Brands’ Rex Goliath wine introduced a Sangria variant ($6.99 a 750-ml. bottle) that depleted nearly 20,000 cases in its first few months. “It’s been a hit on all fronts,” says Rex Goliath director of marketing Kim Moore. “We get repeated feedback from our sampling program that it’s the best sangria they’ve ever tasted.” Deutsch…

Forty Creek distillery defies Canadian whisky’s lackluster image. The brown spirits boom has largely overlooked the category, which has suffered from its reputation as a lighter, cheaper spirit with less flavor and complexity than Scotch or American whiskies. But Forty Creek, located in Grimsby, Ontario, has always aimed to change that story. Founded in 1992 by John Hall, a winemaker who sought to restore the reputation of Canadian whisky, Forty Creek has helped reinvent the category by focusing on flavor, pot still distillation and top-quality cooperage. Over the years, the distillery has won a slew of awards from experts including MARKET WATCH sister publication Whisky Advocate. Forty Creek’s success paid off in March 2014, when Gruppo Campari fully acquired the distillery for $168 million (C$185.6 million). Hall continues to serve…

Originally conceived as an email newsletter, CorkBuzz has grown into a three-unit wine bar and education center in New York City and Charlotte, North Carolina, since launching in November 2011. “I registered the name in 2004 and thought it would be a Daily Candy for the wine business,” explains cofounder and master sommelier Laura Maniec, who previously served as wine director at BR Guest Hospitality for six years. Maniec initially envisioned the yoga studio equivalent of a wine school. “You drop in and have amazing classes with different teachers at times that work for your schedule,” she says. “The classes aren’t necessarily testing or certifying you, but they’re providing in-depth information.” The wine bar component came after discussing the business plan with her uncle, CorkBuzz cofounder and COO Frank Vafier,…