Category: Beer

WSET to launch two new beer qualifications in 2024

Wine & Spirit Education Trust “WSET”, is set to launch two new beer qualifications February 2024: Level 1 Award in Beer and Level 2 Award in Beer.

The new beer qualifications have been created and set up by WSET’s Product Development team which is led by Sara Hobday, head of Product Development for Beer Qualifications. The team includes Mirella Amato, one of only 22 Master Cicerones, and Stuart Howe, Technical Development Manager for the Institute of Brewing & Distilling.

Beer will be WSET’s fourth qualification area following wine, spirits and sake, and the first new subject stream since 2014 when sake was introduced.

These two new courses will provide both trade professionals and beer enthusiasts the product knowledge and tasting skills to become more beer-confident. Initially launching online and in-person in select markets, including the UK, United States, Canada and Australia, the courses will explore the main types and styles of beer, key methods of production, tasting techniques and food pairings.

Michelle Brampton, WSET CEO, said: “Extending our qualifications to encompass beer is an exciting time for WSET and a natural fit for us as leaders in global drinks education. Bringing over 50 years of educational experience to the beer category, our new Level 1 and 2 Awards in Beer will bring a unique and interactive approach to tasting and learning. We hope people will be inspired to pursue their passion for beer, whether for career or personal development using our courses to build their knowledge.”

Wine remains the strongest performing qualification for the WSET with candidates making up 88% of its student base in the last academic year.

Overall, in the academic year 2022-23, 143,000 candidates enrolled for a qualification, up 22% from the previous year, with courses offered by over 700 course providers in 78 countries.

The largest markets for WSET are:

USA – 27,000 candidates, up 17% vs the previous year

UK – 24,000 candidates, up 19% vs the previous year

China – 13,000 candidates

 

Town of Cardston, Alberta lifts prohibition law after 121 years

Cardston in Alberta, one of Canada’s few remaining dry towns, has recently voted to remove laws forbidding the sale of alcohol.

It was announced that last week the town council voted in favour of allowing “limited liquor sales.” The historic decision resulted in voting 5-2 in favour of a bylaw allowing restaurants and recreation facilities to apply for a liquor license.

The Mormon-founded town has maintained its Prohibition laws long after the rest of the province axed them in 1923, with previous attempts to have the ban lifted, in 1957 and 2014.

“Do I have fears? I do. But I trust the people,” said Cardston mayor Maggie Kronen. “Changes can be good, changes can be bad — we shall see.”

According to the 2021 census, 62% of Cardston’s residents are Mormons, belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which forbids the consumption of alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine.

It will still be some months before the first alcoholic drink is served at a Cardston restaurant as applications for liquor licenses will take some time to process.

US Adults 55+ are drinking more alcohol according to research

The percentages of 18 to 34-year-olds, who report that they either don’t drink, drank the past week, or sometimes drank more than they should, are all lower than they were 20 years ago, according to research conducted by American analytics company Gallup.

Yet, drinking on all three metrics has trended up among Americans 55 and over, while holding fairly steady among middle-aged adults.

These results were based on an analysis of Gallup trends on Americans’ self-reports of their alcohol drinking habits. To allow for reliable analysis of the trends by age, the data was reviewed in three three-year time periods: 2001-2003, 2011-2013 and 2021-2023.

  • Adults under the age of 35, 62% reported that they drink alcohol, down from 72% two decades ago; and
  • Drinking has increased among adults aged 55 and older, from 49% to 59% in the same 20-year period.

This shows that drinking habits among younger adults may be on a downward trend, while the opposite can be said of people 55+. According to the research, there are still more drinkers under the age of 35 (62%) than in the 55 and over category (59%).

While these groups on either end of the age spectrum now report similar drinking rates, those in the middle, aged 35 to 54, maintain a higher drinking rate, at 69%, on par with the prior 67% readings for this age group.

The same trend can be seen among those classed as regular drinkers. Younger adults who drink are less likely than they were in the past to say they had an alcoholic drink within the past seven days, down from 67% to 61% over the last two decades. Older adults, aged 55 and over, have done the opposite, with figures rising from 63% to 69%.

Among all Americans (both drinkers and nondrinkers), fewer than four in 10 young adults (38%) now appear to be regular drinkers, on par with older adults (40%) with middle-aged adults (48%) more likely.

Research Results:  https://news.gallup.com/poll/509501/six-americans-drink-alcohol.aspx

CGA’s December’s “US Consumer Impact Report” reveals that bars and restaurants are essential for driving awareness of drinks brands

CGA by NielsenIQ’s latest consumer research reveals that bars and restaurants are essential for driving awareness of drinks brands, with 61% of consumers more likely to look for new brands in the on premise as opposed in stores and 54% stating they’ve made an in-store purchase of a brand that they first tried in the on premise.

CGA’s Consumer Impact report highlights 1,600 consumer behaviors across Florida, Texas, California and New York. The latest research highlights that the frequency of visits to the on premise have remained stable, with 4 in 5 consumers visiting bars and restaurants 3 or more times in the last three months. Plans for visiting also remain very positive with around 73% of US consumers planning to go out in the next weeks.

Consumers continue to seek out new experiences in bars and restaurants, with consumers more likely to first try a new Spirits or Beer brand in the on premise over an in-store purchase – underlining how important venues are in building brand awareness and encouraging trial.

Trial of new drinks brands in bars and restaurants is highly likely to compel consumers in their purchasing decisions in the off premise too – with 54% of consumers agreeing they have made a purchase in store of brands that they first tried in the on premise. 3 in 5 consumers also agree that they are likely to look for new brands in store if they’ve already tried them at a bar or restaurant.

Not only are on premise purchases informing in-store buying behaviors, they also help to build loyalty – with two thirds of consumers agreeing that if they try a new brand they like in a bar or restaurant, they will continue drinking it on subsequent visits.

Ahead of the holiday season, two thirds of US consumers are planning to visit the on premise throughout this period, with 3 in 10 planning to visit on New Year’s Eve specifically. These consumers are planning to visit a range of food- and drink-led venues, with neighborhood bars, fine dining and sports bars leading the list of most popular venues, while beer is the drink of choice for New Year’s Eve.

Moving into the new year, almost 2 in 5 US consumers predict they will visit the on premise more or much more often than they did in 2022, while half plan to maintain their current frequency of visitation. A third of consumers predict their spend in bars and restaurants will increase over the next 12 months, with 2 in 5 consumers willing to spend more for better quality drinks compared to 2022 – providing significant opportunities for premium drinks brands.

Source: CGA Strategy

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US Joins EU in Nutritional Labelling for Alcohol

European legislators have moved to require ingredient and nutritional information on wine labels (vis QR code), US consumer groups have also fought to achieve the same objective. After 20 years the groups have one their fight.

Starting December 8, 2023, labels of alcohol sold in the EU will have to reveal nutritional and ingredient information directly, or through a QR code. Until now, wine producers with no interest in exporting to Europe have imagined themselves to be immune from this kind of legal requirement, but a recent court ruling shows that American consumers will soon see the same information on bottles on sale in the US.

As the Center for Science in the Public Interest – CSPI – reported “the Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has agreed to issue proposed rules requiring standardized alcohol content, calorie, and allergen labeling on all beer, wine and distilled spirits products [and to] begin preliminary rulemaking on mandatory ingredient labelling.”

The US move has been a very long time coming and results from a legal action by consumer groups and the CSPI against the TTB for failing to act on a 2003 petition submitted by 69 organizations and individual citizens including four deans of schools of public health, and calling for alcoholic beverages to be treated in the same way as other beverages and food products.

Opponents of the move who hope that implementation of labeling legislation may still be delayed will be dismayed to learn that the House and Senate Appropriations Committee’s 2023 budget treats the issue as ‘critical’ and calls for urgent action.

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