Pernod Ricard’s Safe Night Program is About More Than reducing Impaired Driving

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

Pernod Ricard USA launched a comprehensive, community-based pilot program in Dallas that aims to create safer nights out through a variety of measures, including reducing binge drinking and impaired driving, and improving safety for women.

The Dallas-based “Good Neighbor Initiative” is intended to be a model for a national “Safe Night” program that can be expanded into other U.S. cities based on the successes and learnings from Dallas. It was developed in collaboration with Responsibility.org,; Safe Night LLC, creator of programs aimed at improving municipal safety; and 24HourDallas, a grassroots organization dedicated to improving the city’s nighttime profile.

Randall White, founder/board president, 24-Hour Dallas, said the pilot Safe Night program will deliver never-before used approaches in North Texas to foster better relationships between Dallas’ nighttime businesses and their neighbors.

Key elements of the initiative include:

  • SAFE NIGHT OUT – Building collaboration between nighttime businesses and municipal departments so a city’s nighttime becomes safer and more vibrant.
  • EVERY VOICE – Educating nighttime business owners on how to avoid discrimination and exclusion when they hire staff and host guests.
  • SIDEWALK AMBASSADORS – Mobilizing faith leaders and individuals of goodwill to quell potential conflict within a Dallas entertainment district.
  • COPPER STAR CERTIFICATION – Honoring nighttime businesses that have taken extraordinary steps to be safe, welcoming, and respectful of their neighbors.

In addition to reducing alcohol misuse and promoting nighttime safety, the initiative is intended to help improve code and ordinance compliance and curtail human and sex trafficking, White said.

In addition to reducing alcohol misuse and promoting nighttime safety, the initiative is intended to help improve code and ordinance compliance and curtail human and sex trafficking, White said.

Camilla Guiguer, Director, Sustainability and Responsibility for Pernod Ricard North America, said the measurable reduction in binge drinking expected to result from the Good Neighbor Initiative in Dallas is consistent with the company’s belief in “Responsible Hosting,”  a key pillar of Pernod Ricard’s Global Sustainability and Responsibility roadmap, ‘Good Times from a Good Place.’

“We want to help ensure that adults of a legal drinking age who choose to drink do so in a way that does not harm themselves or others,” Guiguer said. “This goal is consistent with our company’s mission to be “Creators of Conviviality” – to unlock the magic of human connection during moments celebrated with our brands. There can be no true conviviality without responsibility.”

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Hard Seltzer Craze Spurred Demand for Fruit, Botanical Flavors

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

Consumers preferred crisp, refreshing hard seltzers with fruit and botanical flavors during the summer months, says Messina Truttman, VP-sales and marketing, Beck’s Flavors.

“The top two factors that consumers say they pay importance to when buying hard seltzer are flavor and brand, with 46% selecting flavor and 45% brand, Truttman said. “While staple fruit flavors like lemon and lime have been extremely popular across hard seltzers, consumers are now craving more exotic options, so we expect to see a rise in more unique flavors like guava, hibiscus, wildberry or elderflower.

“This trend also made its way into beers, ready-to-drink cocktails and even mocktail varieties. Normally we associate beer flavors with heavier, more indulgent offerings, but with the rise in cider beers and IPA’s, we’ve also seen an influx in more fruity flavor pairings like mango, raspberry, blackberry, or peach. The same trend holds true in RTD cocktails and mocktails as consumers continue to crave those pleasant, refreshing flavor selections in a majority of their beverage choices,” Truttman added.

What’s driving the trend?  Truttman cites the pandemic, which has made consumers to crave new experiences.  That translates to a more adventuresome flavor profile.

“We’ve found that 63% of consumers find exotic foods and beverages from all over the world appealing, so we are constantly exploring new exotic pairings that work well across a series of applications,” says Adam Berge, applications technologist at Beck Flavors.

 

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What We’re Reading —

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

“That Night Was Scary.” Pearl Harbor Remembered

Eighty years ago, Chuck Cowdery’s father was at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, a 21-year-old private in the U.S. Army.  Here’s what happened on the morning of the attack, according to an account Cowdery’s father wrote for his family on the 50th anniversary of the attack.  (Chuck Cowdery Blog)

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100% Cork Survey Reveals That Cork Closures Seal 91% of the World’s Top Wines

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

I was sitting at the bar of the Seattle Westin hotel a couple of weeks ago and asked for a glass of wine.  The bartender grabbed a well-known brand’s bottle, twisted the cap and poured.  “I didn’t know they (I think it was Cakebread, but I’m not sure) used a screw cap,” I said.  “This is only for bars and restaurants,” she replied.  “The consumer version is still sealed with a cork.”

I’ve had similar discussions with other on-premise pros.  And yet I keep getting news such as yesterday”s announcement from 100% Cork and APCOR (The Portuguese Cork Association), that 91% of the world’s top wines selected by Wine Spectator in 2021 are sealed with cork closures. The survey also revealed that of the 33 domestic wines selected, 31 were sealed with cork (94%), while 60 of the 67 imported wines that made the Wine Spectator list were also sealed with cork closures (89.5%).

“Given the incredible natural properties of cork, it makes sense that the majority of the best wines from around the world are sealed with cork,” says Carlos de Jesus, operational director of the InterCork program of APCOR. “Its lightness, elasticity, carbon sequestration, and ability to provide consistent oxygen transfer to help with wine’s evolution, are just a few of cork’s characteristics.”

So, why does Cork closures continue to be the market leader for the wine market in the U.S., highlighted by significant growth in both sales and market share over the past decade? Between 2010 and 2020, case sales of cork finished wines among the top 100 premium brands increased 97% compared to 6% for alternative closures, according to Nielsen. During the last ten years, market share of premium cork finished wines jumped from 47% to 67.6%.

We suspect the answer to the question is that on-premise outlets, where time is money, don’t want to waste time popping corks.  Wineeries have to make it easy for the pros who pour thousands of cases a year, because the easiest thing for a pro to do is select another wine. As for consumers, well . . .

Fighting Global Warming

Consumers might also care a lot more than a bar operator that natural cork closures have a negative carbon balance when used to seal wines bottled in glass containers, according to recent studies conducted by three of the world’s largest auditing companies. A single stopper has a balance of up to – 309 grams of CO2; numbers for sparkling wine stoppers go even higher at up to – 589 grams.

As a renewable and natural product, cork is harvested without damaging or cutting down the trees, which live for 200 years or longer. During its lifetime a cork oak tree can absorb 20 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere while producing up to 65,000 corks. Through sustainable harvesting, the cork industry is helping to fight climate change by preserving Europe’s largest oak forests from deforestation, while also providing high-paying jobs for agricultural farmers.

 

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Kaulua Offers $25,000 to a Couple that Goes 30 Nights Internet-Free

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

The #KahluaStirItUpChallenge is calling on couples to stir up their evening routines for the chance to win $25,000. All they have to do is go 30-nights without internet.

Nearly half of Americans spend five to six hours2 a day on their phones and the average person will spend 76,500 hours, or almost nine years3, on their mobile device over the course of their life. While our screen routines have come to rule our individual daily lives, they are also stealing quality time from our partners. 40%4 of people say they are often or sometimes bothered by the amount of time their partner spends on their screen and 51% say their partner is distracted by their phone during conversation. Whether it’s work that blends from day to night or mindless scrolling while streaming, it’s time to stir up our evening routines.

To enter, couples can head to Kahlua.com/en-us/StirItUpChallenge to tell why they are ready to stir up their evening routine. The submission period will be live from until 11:59 p.m. EST Jan. 2, 2022.

Kahlúa will be selecting one lucky couple to embark on the 30-night challenge beginning Sunday, January 16, 2022 at 6:30PM local time and culminating on February 15, 2022 at 6:30AM local time. Valentine’s Day, the biggest day of the year for couple connection, will mark the 30th and final night of the challenge.

Every night, the couple will be expected to power down their screens and electronics from 6:30PM – 6:30AM local time.

Kahlúa will be providing the couple with a #KahluaStirItUpChallenge kit including a storage box for stashing phones during offline hours, in addition to 30-nights of activities – from perfecting the Kahlúa Espresso Martini, to facing off in a cooking challenge, to trying their hand at feng shui.

How will Kahlúa really know if the couple successfully completed the 30-night challenge without acting on the temptation of turning on screens and Wi-Fi? A lie detector test! At challenge end on February 15, Kahlúa will send a polygraph examiner to the couple’s home to ask a series of questions helping to confirm true participation in order to receive the $25,000 cash prize and secure bragging rights.

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Heaven’s Door Spirits Releases The Bootleg Series Vol III

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

The 2021 Bootleg Series release features a cask strength 13-year-old Kentucky Bourbon, finished in Vino de Naranja Casks. Native to Southern Spain, these casks are used to age an exclusive type of white wine utilizing a fully natural process that create a unique hue of orange in the finished wine. Bottled at cask strength, Heaven’s Door secondarily aged its mature Kentucky bourbon for almost a year in Vino de Naranja Casks, imparting a subtle sweetness, rich dark amber color and a multi layered flavor profile.

The Bootleg Series Vol III is presented in a handmade ceramic bottle featuring Bob Dylan’s painting, Sunday Afternoon, which showcases radiant coloring and brush strokes to illustrate a boating scene from the shore. Each bottle is housed in an individually numbered, handmade leather journal with ornate detailing that nods to traditional Southern Spanish architecture.

With only 3,949 bottles released at a suggested retail price of $545, The Bootleg Series Vol III will be available at ReserveBar.com and select retailers nationwide.

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