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Inventory for July 22nd, 2018

Hi friends! This week we’ve got news in regards to plastic straws (surprise, they’re banned at all Marriott hotels worldwide), Pernod aims to eliminate long waits at the bar with their new smart technology, and Campari and Aperol both had a incredibly good year in terms of sales. Cheers! 
If you’re in Berlin this week, then good on ‘ya because it’s Berlin Beer Week!! This ten day, multi-venue celebration of all things craft beer will showcase the finest of German beers, all across this fair city of ours. Prepare for numerous pop-ups, tap takeovers, and hop parties. It’s all there. Find the complete program, along with a list of participating brewers, here.

Marriott to Remove Plastic Straws from Hotels Worldwide

Following Starbucks the Marriott hotel group just announced it would be removing single-use plastic straws from its houses worldwide. Reports the drinks business, “Marriott International plans to ban plastic straws from its hotels worldwide, months after the chain committed to cutting down waste in its UK businesses”. Apparently, hotel teams have been request to begin removing plastic straws with immediate effect. “Once fully implemented, the company said could eliminate the use of more than one billion plastic straws per year, as well as 250,000 plastic stirrers by July 2019”. Straws are the topic de-jour, many a viral Instagram video being watched in the last few years. While this is all well and good, there’s a lot more to saving the environment than cutting back on straws. A fact that most large companies would be happy to ignor.

Pernod aims to Eliminate Bar Queues with Connected Glass

“Pernod Ricard is enhancing its digital marketing efforts with the launch of a connected glass for Havana Club rum that sends cocktail orders directly to bar staff”, per The Spirits Business. In partnership with BlackSheep the French drinks group unveiled the technology at the Plaza Havana Club in Paris. The way it works is as follows: the Havana Club branded glassware is equipped with a near field communication (NFC) enabled chip that connects to a smartphone and allows consumers to place their drinks orders. This move came out of research that states that “one in three people forgo a purchase if the wait exceeds more than 10 minutes”. Pernod Ricard sees this move as the latest example of the group’s digital ambition.
Top Seven Best Selling Bitter Spirits
Both Campari and Aperol have upped their game in the last few years, nary a day goes by without seeing a customer enjoying a distinctly orange-hued cocktail. “As interest peaks in the after-work apèritif and the popularity of the bitter cocktail trend takes hold, the likes of the Negroni, Aperol Spritz and variations on the classic gin and tonic have helped to pave the way for growth in the speciality spirits category. A large number of bitters producers reported steady single-digit growth in the year, meanwhile vermouth was hit by a dip in volume. Pernod Ricard’s Ramazzotti bitters and Ricard anis brand also witnessed stagnant sales in 2017. Gruppo Campari’s Aperol brand continued to shine, boosted by European markets and the US – prompting us to once again name the brand Speciality Spirits Brand Champion 2018″. Surprisingly, Campari witnessed only a slight growth of 4.3% in 2017. Aperol on the other hand experienced a double-digit growth of 17.6% last year – the highest rate of growth amongst the category’s million-case sellers. A trend that’s sure to continue as the aperitif only gains in popularity.

Adam Seger and the Alleged Sexual Misconduct

Do you remember October 2016? That’s when the world found out that the allegedly historic Seelbach cocktail was the result of fraud, staged by the young, ambitious bartender Adam Seger staged in the venerable Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky in the 1990s. It was a veritable scandal, the discovery of which can be attested to journalist Robert Simonson. Seger, by now a successful liquor producer and well-known personality in the North American bar business, this scandal definitely resulted in a loss of face.
It doesn’t look much better for him now, the opposite actually. Local New Orleans newspaper The Times-Picayune reports that the now 48-year-old Seger was provisionally arrested. Seger was in town for the current Tales of the Cocktail, and has been charged with sexual abuse. He is accused to have practiced oral sex on a very drunk, sleeping man in 2015 — while also in town for “Tales”. In the US this fulfills the requirements of third-degree rape. Not much else is known, and one can only question why this is coming to light only now.  In any case, Tales board member Caroline Rosen already announced that all of Seger’s planned lectures have been canceled and he’s also been suspended for participation in the overall event.

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