Where customer experience is concerned, every detail matters and enjoying a beverage at 30,000 feet can now be an adventure in taste and sustainability with hundreds of choices available.
At this year’s WTCE, several brands are revolutionising the way airlines serve drinks, offering quality, consistency, and eco-consciousness like never before. Let’s take a closer look at the standout brands shaping the future of the in-flight beverage menu.
Bar quality cocktails – ready to drink – for premium bar experiences
Customers craving a premium cocktail experience in the sky can look out for MOTH – which stands for ‘Mix Of Total Happiness’. They’re full-strength classics, made with best of the best craft spirits, perfect every time in single serve recyclable aluminium cans. Check them out on stand 4B40, where they’ll be introducing two brand new cocktails at WTCE in May – The Cosmopolitan and the Paloma.
Lockdown Liquor Co. are cocktails ready to pour for a consistent serve every time, crafted by expert mixologists using the best quality ingredients. Lockdown Liquor Co. are known for their bespoke creations and meaningful collaborations resulting in unique and great tasting cocktails – on stand 1A110 at the show.
The Pickle House deliver, consistently every time, with their range of the highest quality real tomato based ‘Bloody’ spiced mix and ‘Bloody Mary’ in varying format sizes. These are perfect for having a ready-to-go drink or for mixing with a complete juice, spice, and sauce base for creating your own cocktails/mocktails in flight.
A Bloody Mary is one of those go to drinks in the sky, but more and more customers are keen to get the buzz and body of the tomato base with other spirits they love, such as Gin for a Red Snapper, or popular Tequila for a Bloody Maria. These will be showcased and served throughout the show on stand 1E10.
Try, taste, and check out the exciting news about each of these brands this year when you visit them in Hamburg. RTDs can ensure customers travelling enjoy a sophisticated drink without compromise. Moreover, their commitment to sustainability makes them ideal partners for airlines looking to reduce their environmental footprint while still delighting in terms of taste profile.
Low-No alcohol serves for elevated pleasure
Recognising the growing demand for no and low-alcohol options, look out for these exciting trailblazers in the category.
Quarter Proof offer expertly crafted 12% ABV spirits designed for a lower strength pairing or cocktail, designed to create a drinking buzz without all the blur of full- strength alcohol serves. These innovative beverages cater to passengers seeking a lighter drinking experience without sacrificing flavour or sophistication. Airlines can now cater to a wider range of preferences while promoting responsible consumption. (Stand 1E10).
Zero-Alcohol, Maximum Taste Those opting for zero-alcohol beverages now have much more choice than the historical list of soda, juice, or water to select from. Look out for the Bellino and Rossino a delicious ready to pour option perfect as a mocktail or welcome drink from Montevibiano on stand 4C40.
Noughty can be found pouring their exquisite selection of both sparkling and still completely zero alcohol wines on stand 1E10 – go and taste these at the show for proof that you can get an abundance of flavour without needing the alcohol content.
Health and Wellness are one of the many reasons guests on board will opt for one non-alcoholic beverage over another. More and more we are seeing requests from passengers for healthy products. At the show, check out Jukes on stand 1E97 and explore their selection of award-winning organic apple cider vinegar-based drinks, made with all-natural ingredients.
Unrooted (stand 1E10) have exceptional wellness shots that not only taste great, are extremely good for your mind and body but also directly support the communities who enable the harvesting of their signature Baobab super fruit, as well as a number of other impressive sustainable projects.
Come and learn more at their stand as they have a great story to share as well as product to taste. With zero-alcohol options becoming increasingly popular, airlines can now cater to all passengers’ preferences while prioritising their well-being.
Alternative format wines – enjoying a glass of wine, sparkling or still is a real pleasure at 38,000 ft and has been a popular tipple since commercial flying began. The real innovation in this category is alternative formats offering great quality wines. These are my top tips to look out for this year.
New for this year are Just Enough – premium, minimum intervention wine in can, visit the team at AMI on stand 4B40 to taste and learn more.
The Uncommon Wines of England have a spectacular selection of wines and an amazing story to share. Visit the team at Inflight Initiatives on stand number 1E10 at the show and see what this small team have done creating great wines using English grape varieties, seizing the opportunity to crush preconceptions and develop the UK wine industry by pushing it into new territory.
A single serve solution offering very premium quality at great value to enhance the inflight pour.
Frugalpac is a packaging innovation disrupting the wine industry by offering an alternative to glass with a bottle made entirely from paper. With a mission to “reduce the impact of carbon on the planet through engineering sustainable packaging, using recycled paper, that’s easy to recycle again”, they have naturally caught the attention of multiple wine producers.
Look out for two great wines that have bottled into Frugal at the show: Cantina Goccia will be displayed on stand 1E10, and you can find Alchemy’s unique 100-year-old vine selection on stand 4B40.
Tubes are well worth a look on stand 1D24. They bottle in glass but in a single serve glass tube, reducing excess weight and wastage as well as the opportunity to bottle your trademark beverage as a private label.
Sustainable beverages
Sustainability has been a thread throughout every beverage category focused on to date and certainly it is the case that, to be considered, the buyer will be looking at the eco-friendliness and carbon footprint of any product in acute detail. However, there are some key brands at the show this year that are new and Sustainability is the core DNA with everything else flowing from that.
Sustainaholics will be showcasing their Alumini® bottle with a collection at the show on stand 1B104 of an industry first low carbon, low impact, 100% recycled, endlessly recyclable, light, compact, shatterproof 5cl bottles.
The selection are different spirits brands, all of whom have a credible sustainable profile, brands who share a commitment to bring premium, great tasting spirits to the travel industry, whilst minimising their impact on the planet. Launched in late 2023, they’re a hot new option for airlines around the world.
Also showcasing a very interesting spirit in aluminium, but this time a single serve can is Inflight Initiatives (1E10) with their Two Stacks Whiskey – perfectly named as a ‘Dram in a Can’!
Another debut product, launching their travel activity at WTCE this year is Nice Slice. Not strictly a beverage but a garnish – much loved in many a tipple created at altitude. They are committed to reducing waste across the entire food and drinks industry with a unique production method utilising air-drying technology.
This enables citrus dried garnishes where nothing is wasted, and nothing is surplus. Air dried fruit weighs significantly less than fresh and therefore reduces all transport costs and emissions during the supply process. You can enjoy a drink of choice perfectly garnished with Nice Slice on stand 1E10.
Airlines look to differentiate themselves by offering thoughtful and sustainable accompaniments that leave a lasting impression on passengers.
As airlines strive to enhance the in-flight experience and differentiate themselves in a competitive market, partnering with these innovative brands can be a game-changer. By offering quality, consistency, and sustainability in their beverage offerings, airlines can delight passengers and elevate their whole journey, at multiple touchpoints.
WTCE 2024 is showcasing more categories than ever across the beverage showcase – enjoy tasting and let us know what you think.