A review of Imbibe Live

Imbibe Live is the UK’s leading drinks trade event for anyone whose job largely involves buying, selling, or serving drinks. It is an inspiring mix of very creative stands, challenger-type brands, and some of the most established brands.

This event is always a great shop window for seeing cutting-edge mixology, meeting talented bar professionals, industry specialists, and brands, and tapping into all the latest trends.

This year, I attended a tequila and mezcal talk. Something I first learned a lot about 23 years ago when I was researching my Mexican cookbook (Practical Encyclopedia of Mexican Cooking). It is great to see that it has firmly shed its party shots image and that people understand the different qualities of tequilas. Chris Sterling Client Director at CGA, did a great trends talk based on their EPOS data from 9000 customer sites. I picked up a lot from that which will be helpful for my upcoming Invest Northern Ireland alcohol business programme.

It is no surprise that the cost of living has affected the trade, but there are many positives as well.

• People are cancelling Sky contracts at home and returning to pubs to watch sports, boosting takings around sporting events.

• People are switching from spirits to “LAD’s” Long Alcoholic Drinks, so beer and cider sales are back at pre-COVID levels, but spirits have dipped a bit because they tend to be short drinks.

• Spirit sales buoyed by cocktail sales and bottomless brunches with cocktails show no sign of halting their growth because of their perceived value.

• Trade in pubs has dipped after 10 p.m. (down 7%), but there is more afternoon and early evening activity now.

• RTD cocktails in bars are growing because they allow a higher sales throughput and help plug a skills gap in staff. Recently, Virgin Airlines launched their signature cocktail from their VIP lounge on board as an RTD, a situation before where serving cocktails would not have been possible. James Kerslake and his team at Tom Savano cocktails have made that possible.

• Stout is a surprising winner as consumption is up, helped in no small way by its presence on social media and its appeal to the younger market.

• A very high percentage of bar staff say they get their information from social media and try/stock new products after seeing them there, so we cannot underestimate the importance of consistently promoting your brands on Instagram and TikTok.

• Cream liqueurs are another area showing growth, and a few new brands were also at the show, including Irish brand Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur, made in County Cork with locally sourced cream.

The show regained its energy this year, and there was optimism and freshness about the brands exhibiting.

To stay informed about industry news make sure you sign up to my newsletter here.

Sign up to our newsletter

To access our Business Growth Tool Kit enter your email address.