There's no keeping talented entrepreneurs down! The team who created Frankie’s Olde Style Soda are now gin makers extraordinaire - and recently won a global award after but a short time in the game.
Some countries have banned alcohol, others say liquor shops are essential services, and one top official even suggested a tipple after another long day trapped at home can be a necessary restorative. [Billions of others likely agree too! Ed]
As a global leader in taste and nutrition, Kerry Ingredients looks to discover and translate taste trends, and this year has released the 2020 Kerry Taste Charts for South Africa, including local beverage flavour trends. [A fabulous resource! Ed]
Hi, and welcome to this week's newsletter!
A few stories really grabbed my attention for this week... the first being Burger King's daring and risky US ad strategy promoting its now clean-label Whoppers. Check it out for yourself - contrarian with amazing photography and, of course, we can rely on Nando's to add a cheeky riposte!
Second, the news that Nestlé has sucessfully found a way to mitigate human cat allergies - via a ton of R&D and culminating in a new cat food. Really remarkable!
Third, I came across some fascinating research into the microbiome of Mongolians, a tribe who turn the lactose-intolerace theory on its head, and how this may add to the tome of work being done to get a fuller understanding of the trillions of friends/foes in our guts.
Enjoy this week's read!
Hi, and welcome to this week's newsletter!
How quickly our world has changed; how, unbelievably, a horror movie plot has become our new (ab)normal!
There are heaps of interesting reads on the one-and-only topic that matters at the moment, ones that I hope will provide some worthy insights and advice while you work from home, or otherwise.
Indeed, one can't but be enormously grateful that the food industry will carry on - keeping doing what it does best, to the best of its ability in trying circumstances. To all food-bev workers out there, across the very long supply chain, we salute and thank you all. And on the brighter side, yours is one industry that is in boom mode right now!
I'll be keeping you regularly posted on interesting news, trends and developments - I've worked from home for years!
If you have comments, insights, advice, warnings, good news stories, job offers, useful products etc that you'd like to share with your compatriots, please post them on the FOODStuff SA Facebook page, or send them to me for possible publication in my newsletters.
Wishing you well: be safe, kind and considerate to you, and others!
Lockdown regulations are likely to maim the local wine industry and will have a severe impact beyond the next few weeks, says wine producers body, Vinpro.
The alcohol industry has mobilised to save South Africa from the persistent shortage of hand sanitiser, reports CapeTalk radio.
The demand for hand sanitiser has spiked in recent weeks amid the COVID-19 pandemic, making the germ-killing product hard to come by both in stores and online. With their ample supplies of alcohol, distilleries have stepped up to close the gaps.
Young people are drinking less than ever before. Some reading this will be able to recall the 1990s – the decade of peak alcohol, when drinking was a key part of life for young people.
The US division of Anheuser-Busch InBev has unveiled its first "nitro-infused" lager under the Budweiser brand name.
Big alcohol brands are following, not leading. And where they are headed is alternative drink categories, many of them “hard” versions of non-alcoholic beverages.
Distell's has just dropped a "Jean-ius!" new Savanna cider flavour on the market, adding more options to its ever-growing drinks portfolio.
News just to light, is that Namibia Breweries (NBL) has introduced Windhoek Non-Alcoholic to its premium Windhoek range.
SA's craft gin craze is everywhere as hobbyists turn their garage and stoep ventures into profitable businesses. But who’s really crafting fine gins, and who is hoodwinking with flavoured vodkas?
Coca-Cola North America is launching “breakthrough beverages” in emerging categories – including kombuchas with less sugar, cultured ciders, keto-friendly smoothies and cold-brew coffees – in record time.
Premium bottled smoothie producer, Odwalla, owned by Coca-Cola, has launched a “carb-conscious” zero-sugar, keto-friendly smoothie line.
Mintel, expert in what consumers want and why, believes there are two key 2020 packaging trends set to transform the global packaging landscape in the year/s ahead.
The craft beer bubble hasn't quite burst, but it is beginning to look as if it's being stretched to its limit. As more big brands buy into the trend, this article looks at the implication of craft beer going corporate.
The Coca-Cola Company has reinvented its classic lemon-lime taste of Sprite with a hit of ginger, in its latest US launch.
Well-known, Capetonian brand-builder, Rui Esteves [from Brewers & Union] fame, has launched a new oat milk, OKJA Oat M*lk - in a funky, stylish way that taps deeply into the plant-based trend trajectory.