As the days get longer – and hotter – chilled drinks come to the fore, with a plethora of options available to cafes, restaurants and bars. As summer heats up, Hospitality writer Linda Bennett looks at what people will be drinking to cool down, to enable you to best meet demand and make non-alcoholic beverages a sound contributor to your bottom line this season.

New Zealanders spend more than a billiondollars a year on non-alcoholic, cold beverages, getting through some 640 million litres of soft drinks, fruit juice, bottled water and flavoured milk. It’s a volume that’s stayed pretty steady in recent times, says Kerry Tyack, executive director of the New Zealand Juice and Beverage Association.

“New brands come onto the market, as others drop away. There’s been a lot of innovation in the market here, which gives people choice.”

One category that has seen growth is functional water – water with added nutritional benefits.

“These tend to be for people who are into sport and activity, and like the boost they give. There’s some really interesting flavour combinations in these now,” he says.

With much of New Zealand having perfectly acceptable tap water, we’re not high consumers of bottled water like some of our overseas counterparts, having one of the lowest consumptions of bottled water per capita in the Western World, but people here do consistently buy water – more for convenience of having water to hydrate and refresh on the go.

“New Zealanders are conscious of the impact water has on health, and they are listening to the messages about how much water we should all drink each day, so bottled water sales are mainly driven by health interests,” Kerry says.

Smoothies also continue to be popular choices for people looking to get a refreshing health kick, he says.

Kerry says people are buying according to pocket across the board these days – a reflection of the current worldwide economic situation – so cost is a definite driver of choice for many.

But punters also seem to be becoming increasingly discerning about what they’re drinking. Dave Hawk, owner/operator of Auckland’s Suite Bar says there’s a great trend towards ‘provenance purchasing’ when it comes to non-alcoholic drink choice – as people become increasingly interested in buying local products.

“There is an interest in locally produced products due to their reduced food miles, support of local industry, and on the back of the current wave of national pride associated with the Rugby World Cup,” he says.

Also behind this growth is a maturing of the hospitality industry, he says, with locally produced alcohol brands, and many of our top bartenders performing well on the international scene.

“With the likes of Jacob Briars leading the way internationally, cocktails such as his ‘Falling Water’ are now internationally recognised cocktails – the first local contribution to international cocktail lexicon. On the back of these successes, we are no longer looking abroad for our products, as much as looking within.”

And there’s certainly no shortage of choice for hospitality operators wanting to meet the demand for locally produced non-alcoholic beverages. Outlets now have access to a New Zealand made tonic water called Quina Fina developed by Wellingtonian Alexander Gledhill, and Suite has developed its own range of sodas “Fresh As”, including a lemonade (Tauranga citrus sweetened with manuka honey), a ginger ale, cola and a seltzer. Served from charged soda siphons for a bit of fun, or in bottled water, the sodas are proving the hit of the summer so far at Suite. (see ‘What’s Hot in Mocktails’ for more on the rise of the old-style fizz).

Geraldine-based Addmore is one of New Zealand’s many artisan beverage producers, and in the decade that owner Kate Addis has been making her elderflower drink products, she’s seen a momentous maturity in our beverage market.

“Everyone seems to want to be in the beverage industry here, there are so many drinks out there, and people do like to drink New Zealand-made drinks, but ultimately it comes down to flavour. It has to taste good – so a commitment to quality is really important.

“There’s so much choice now, and while that makes it a difficult market for producers, it has made people more willing to try new things.”

She’s been heartened to see a real shift in New Zealand tastes.

“When we first started selling our products we were still very much a meat and three vege nation, it was pretty tough to twist people’s arms to try elderflower – most associated it with perfume. Now we get rural New Zealand men happily drinking our pink Sparkling Elderflower Rose – and they love it. There’s been a huge change in people willing, and wanting, to try new flavours and tastes, and that’s opened the way for the smaller niche producers, which has been fantastic.”

Kate first discovered elderflower cordial when she was nannying in the UK, and on returning to New Zealand she was intrigued to discover it grew in her home region of South Canterbury. After massive amounts of research into regulations and production, Addmore Elderflower Cordial was launched, followed by Addmore Elderflower Original Sparkling,and Sparkling Rose, made with verjuice. A new Ginger White Tea and Elderflower will also be launched very soon.

“Many people like to go for natural-based drinks now, just look at the success of Phoenix Organics. People do read labels these days, it’s important to them to know what they’re drinking,” Kate says.

So we’ve certainly got ourselves an interesting beverage sector when it comes to non-alcoholic options- gone are the days when a customer’s drink choice came very secondary to the food, today the beverage very much contributes to people’s experience when they go out to a café, restaurant or bar. And in turn, beverages can be a solid contributor to your sales as an operator, if you get it right.

The key is to look closely at what’s important to your customers, and let this drive your choice in what to stock.

If you’re on a popular Sunday biking route, you’ll be looking to waters, functional waters, and healthier options like smoothies. Perhaps your weekend cyclist clientele are also concerned about sustainability? Then look to stocking a local beverage product that cuts down food miles, and offers traceability – there’s a huge range of New Zealand made products on offer now, from the large mainstream brands to the small-run artisan producer. People often like the story behind some of the smaller producers, so make an effort to find out what – and who - is behind these products.

Perhaps your customers are stylish and discerning, they might well be looking to be part of the latest trends in beverages – so maybe some sort of interactive soda fountain concept could be a crowd-pleasing profit spinner this summer?

For bar owners, don’t forget about your customers that chose not to drink alcohol this season – whether driving, pregnant, health conscious, or whatever may steer their decision to chose something non alcoholic, make sure you cater to them by offering up an appealing, sophisticated range of options. As well as looking to the small boutique producers, the likes of Macs have also come up with some enticing grown-up soft drink options, including Macs Lemon Crush, and Macs Green Apple, using Hawke’s Bay Granny Smiths. And do have some fun with mocktails to give them a real experience to remember.

“In order to make fun non-alcoholic options you do need to put some thought into it,” says Dave from Suite Bar, “We like to do this to make sure people who aren’t drinking still have a fun, enjoyable, interactive time.”

The mercury is rising…the time is now!

What’s hot on the mocktail front this summer?

We asked the crew at Auckland’s Suite Bar what they’ll be mixing and muddling for those wanting something non-alcoholic….but interesting, this season.

It seems the soda style drinks are the ‘it’ beverages this season. Mixologists are producing popular new flavours by looking to the golden age of soda fountains – where pharmacists and ‘soda jerks’ (the term for soda makers back in the day) came up with exotic, refreshing drinks by mixing fizzy water with unique blends of sweet syrups and bitters.

As a consumer trends consultancy told NPR news ‘old-timey sodas represent the movement towards higher quality – meaning seasonal, small-bath, local, even organic.”

Suite Events took this trend and ran with it as the theme for its VIP Bars at Taste of New Zealand, setting them up as 1920s soda bars. They served a range of cocktails and mocktails in milkshake glasses, with ice-cream, cream and fun foams.

And it seems, Bloody Shame – spiced tomato juice (or Virgin Mary) is also where it’s at. With the additions of freshly grated horseradish, celery and tabasco it seems to be the sober driver’s ‘health’ drink of choice at the moment, according to the Suite team.

And here’s a great basic formula for a sublime mocktail that’s proving a hit with their customers –

- Equal parts sour to sweet, so 30ml lime juice to 6 fresh strawberries

- Add a little fresh ginger, shake it up, add soda, and you’re away!

You can be bolder and add your own twist to this basic recipe – try adding egg white, banana juice, marshmellow tea and homemade ginger beer….but simple is usually best, just use the best fruit and ingredients you can.

Some interesting molecular options are available now to add some fun to mocktails – the ‘Fizzy’ adds a surprise fizzing mouth experience to a non alcoholic beverage. And why not go for some out-there garnishing – think plastic monkeys, long bendy straws, metre-long straws – don’t be afraid to add some merriment to your cocktails!