Grow up! The case for better soft drinks

So far, this is a familiar story. But, let’s consider some evolving societal issues.

Firstly, the incidence of teetotalism in the UK, according to government data, is higher now than it was ten years ago. The ‘Drinking: adults’ behaviour and knowledge in 2009’ report shows that in 2009 the proportion of adults who claimed not to drink was 15%. Although this figure is not consistently rising every year, at the start of the decade it stood at 12%.

Secondly, the probability of not drinking alcohol rises with age. In that same report, 30% of women over 65 claimed not to have drunk alcohol in the last year, compared to 19% of all women; the comparable figures for men are 15% were 12%. There’s no need to dwell on the rising significance of this mature market in the future.

Thirdly, women are not only less likely to consume alcohol than men, but they do so less often – 23% of female alcohol drinkers claimed to consume it less than monthly. Among male alcohol drinkers that figure was only 13%. As the on trade becomes more and more orientated towards food occasions, the role of women in the market can only increase.

Fourthly, it feels like a case of when and not if the drink drive limit will be reduced and harmonised with the vast majority of the rest of Europe, whatever the merits of the argument.

How about consumer attitudes?

The Mintel On Trade Soft Drinks report, issued early this year, was the inspiration for the Sunday Mirror to rage in February with headline the “Scandal of pubs who rip you off for soft drinks”. The accompanying article noted that the price of soft drinks in pubs is over 5 times the level of supermarkets, and quoted a BBPA spokesman, saying that “the price of soft drinks in pubs is higher than supermarkets because of greater costs and a higher level of service.” Five times higher? If that were the case, how is it that the cost of eating in pubs is estimated by analysts to now be only two to three times higher than eating at home? Mintel’s research showed that almost two thirds of those questioned resented paying pub prices for soft drinks, when they compared them to shop prices.

To be charitable, the standard range of draught and soft drinks in pubs and restaurants has been adequate for many customers in the past, but mainstream consumers in mainstream supermarkets are continually exposed to an ever-widening and increasingly premium range, particularly of fresh products in the chilled cabinets.

Mintel’s release showed that almost 30% of those questioned say that the quality of pub soft drinks is “generally not as good as in cafes or restaurants,” and that 41% want a greater choice of soft drinks in pubs.

So, what’s on offer?

Surf around the principal pub dining chain websites and there is generally scant and incidental mention of soft drinks. However there are signs of invention here and there. Toby Carvery and Harvester can offer you a Raspberry & Pomegranate cordial with soda, and Harvester goes as far as ‘sensational smoothies’ ‘citrus fizz’, and milkshakes. Chef & Brewer works up a few combinations of regular bottled juice and mixers in its “refreshing fruit blends” although they merit only half a page in a 12 page online drinks menu.

Casual dining chains are much more likely to offer smoothies and iced, herbal or mint teas, and some extend into ice cream shakes, but perhaps it’ll take a really serious move by pubs and casual dining into the breakfast market to stimulate some genuine innovation in this category.

Perhaps for that reason, the coffee chains are already well down this road. Costa has its Frescatos, Nero has its 100% natural juice-based, no added sugar ‘Fruit Boosters,’ Starbucks has its Frappucino blended juice drinks. Not to mention all the iced coffee permutations.

Move upscale to somewhere like Le Pain Quotidien, and it gets much more interesting, with options such as freshly pressed four-fruit (or carrot) juices, and homemade limeade with mint .

But with the clear threat of a lower drink drive limit, it shouldn’t take a breakfast menu to stimulate innovation in soft drinks. Stimulation is the key word here, creating appeal, interest and novelty for the customer, something appetising that breaks the category out from the lower leagues of the drinks menu.

US tasters

In stark contrast, a recent piece on www.fastcasual.com covered category developments in what they prefer, perhaps tellingly, to call specialty drinks in some of the leading US fast casual chains. If you want appetising, here are some quoted examples: Watermelon Habanero Lemonade, at the Cosi sandwich chain, Frozen Strawberry Lemonade at Panera (and also on test at McDonald’s in the States), Cranberry-Pomegranate Lemonade at Charley’s, and Peaches & Cream Iced Coffee Cooler at Bruegger’s - whose executive chef commented optimistically that “the more we put interesting things out there, the more people will try them.”

The situation of the non-drinker has been likened to the way vegetarians were treated 20 years ago.

Many will read this and fear being too different, of appealing to a small discerning minority audience. However, a recent quote from Unilever’s Chief Marketing Officer Keith Weed loudly strikes a relevant chord: “I need to be where the consumer is, but actually, more than that, I need to be ahead of the consumer so that we are there when the consumer arrives."

See www.statistics.gov.uk