In today’s (January 2) edition of The Globe and Mail, wine and spirits writer Beppi Crosariol waxes on about his predicted trends for beverages in 2008, including his guess that the vodka juggernaut will sail along unimpeded (safe bet), screw cap wines will increase in popularity with winemakers (ditto), and the strength of the Canadian dollar will result in cheaper, and thus more popular Californian wines (pretty likely). He also suggests that the next big trend in beer will be something he describes as “vitamin-enriched beer.”
Hmmmm, don’t bet the farm on that last one, Beppi.
I, too, have heard the rumblings about new beer brands enriched with all sorts of purportedly healthful ingredients, including vitamins, but unlike my learned friend, I don’t think for a second that these might constitute a trend. Reason being that at no time in modern history has a drinks producer of any sort – beer, wine or spirits – successfully drawn a link between their product and health. Oh, you may point to the spike in red wine popularity following the disclosure of the so-called French Paradox, but recall that was revealed not by a winery, but by the television show 60 Minutes. As for drinks manufacturers successfully associating their product with good health, the success rate has been, well, precisely zero.
Don’t expect any brewer, even one the size of Anheuser-Busch – who Crosariol says is currently developing two brands of vitamin brew – to change that situation any time soon.
So what do I think 2008 holds for the beer market? Watch this space for the balance of this month and I’ll tell you. Just to start you off, though, here’s a clue as to what I think is going to be a big trend: wood.
More on that later.
