Mintel at The Flavor Experience

The following is drawn from a number of different presentations and conversations on both Tuesday and Wednesday during the event. Maria Caranfa deserves a very healthy nod for the bulk of the observations below.

To me, the emerging trends in beverages (cocktails, mostly) seem significantly different than some of the other ongoing developments in fine dining. The new consumer target – Gen Y – is not likely to have much impact here, as many are obviously underage and few are likely in the market for $11+ cocktails. The “renovation” trend may not come into play here either – simply introducing a few new fancy cocktails may not be enough for operators to keep pace, although it would undoubtedly buy time. Finally, the “multi-sensory experiences” trend (the only issue from my “Top 5″ not yet mentioned) does crop up in cocktails – imagine the aroma of a twisted orange rind – but not to the degree as in appetizers, entrees, and desserts. (And I don’t know about you, but I don’t tend to play around with my drinks.)

For one thought on the economy’s effect on trends in beverages scroll down to the end of this post, but here are the two major areas of discussion we heard:

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