Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | September 30, 2019 | Worcester Business Journal 11 Closer Coverage SM means more value, delivered with a personal touch. Our priority is providing Closer Coverage SM for you. At Acadia Insurance, we believe that better coverage means having an in-depth knowledge of your business. This means understanding the risks and uncertainties from your perspective. At Acadia Insurance, this is how we are closer to your business — and to you. We insure businesses large and small: CONSTRUCTION • FARMERS FINANCE & REAL ESTATE • HOSPITALITY INSTITUTIONS • MANUFACTURING PROFESSIONAL OFFICE • RETAILERS SERVICE • TRANSPORTATION WHOLESALERS • WOOD PRODUCTS making alcohol-free, while drinks with fruity or more complex ingredient lists leave some wiggle room. "It does take some extra creativity sometimes to bring the flavors out," Filo said. If creating a new alcohol-free cocktail is a challenge for a bartender, it's a part of a development of bartending into an artform, the way a chef can be with food, said Bob Luz, the president and CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. "e mixologist development has really been extraordinary," he said. "It's really made a bartender like a chef behind the bar. Restaurants have another incentive to prioritize non-alcoholic drinks: Even if they're usually less expensive than their adult counterparts, they still help drive more revenue than a so drink. New challenges, new focus Prominent national names in bartend- ing see making non-alcoholic drinks a sign of greater acceptance of not every- one at a bar necessarily wanting a drink. Even if that patron isn't partaking in drinking in the same way, they may not want to settle for an iced tea or a seltzer. "I definitely think that's changed in recent years," said Dave Arnold, a principal at Existing Conditions, a bar in New York's Greenwich Village and the author of the cocktail book "Liquid Intelligence". "at's really where we're coming at it from," Arnold said. "We want everyone to have the same level of experience, whether they're drinking alcohol or not." Arnold is among those working to maintain what he said are the right balances of sweet or acidic flavors when alcohol is le out. He'll substitute premium ingredients like honey made from a rare bee in Mexico, which is why alcohol-free drinks at Existing Conditions cost $16. Customers have found more of a voice in wanting something more creative, said Clare Liardet, the author of the non-alcohol-bartending book "Dry: Delicious Handcraed Cocktails and Other Clever Concoctions". "e rise in interest goes beyond that of simply taking out the bad, to actively seeking and exploring the healthy," Liar- det said. "So no more sweet pina colada, minus rum – but challenging fruits, veg- etables, berries, and interesting bitter or herb drinks, perhaps using non-alcoholic distilled spirits to create that complex backbone a good cocktail needs." Arnold sees the trend continuing, considering bartending trade shows now including seminars on non- alcoholic drinks when they wouldn't have five years ago. ese days are something of a lag time between many patrons still not realizing how many quality non-alcoholic cocktails are available, he said. Industry giants have noticed No firm numbers exist on the rise of liquor-free cocktails, but the industry sees a growing market. A longtime survey of young adults and youth from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has found declining alcohol use. A 2018 World Health Organization report found 19% of Americans to be for- mer drinkers. Roughly 28% of Americans said they abstained from alcohol within the last 12 months. e non-alcoholic spirits industry re- mains very small, but grew by two-thirds between 2017 and 2018, according to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis. An IWSR survey in February found 52% of Amer- icans are trying or have tried to reduce their alcohol intake. In January, Coca-Cola launched spar- kling non-alcoholic drinks inspired by their alcoholic cousins. In August, Diageo – the British owner of Johnnie Walker, Captain Morgan and other major liquors – got into the game as well, buying a majority share of Seedlip, a company calling itself the world's first distilled non-alcoholic spirit. Brazilian-Belgian multinational drink manufacturer AB InBev, the maker of Anheuser-Busch and other international beers, counts alcohol-free drinks for just 10% of sales today, but projects those sales to reach 20% by 2025. W Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2018) Drinking less 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70% '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '17 PERCENTAGE WHO IDENTIFY AS REGULAR DRINKERS Ages 12-17 Ages 18-25 Ages 26+ Those saying they've had an alcoholic drink in the past month has declined over the past 15 years, especially in younger groups. F O O D & D R I N K I S S U E F O C U S

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