the first press review of the year 2017 !

Dear curious : Finally, yes : a new press review.
What was in both SPIRITS BUSINESS MAGAZINE and DRINK BUSINESS MAGAZINE OF JANUARY 2017 ?

DRINK BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Issue # 274
is all about eco friendly drinks in January 2017. One could say thy took their time...
Let's see if it means being ecologically responsible or simply adding more greenery (2017 should be green) to drinks ?
:-)
p.44 : another drink business award. green award it is called. and a long article about how important are green credentials to brand positioning.
Who got a price in the spirits category : GLENGOYNE DISTILLERY
Why did they get the price ? 1/ they produce their energy thanks to cultivation of elephant grass and distillation process 2/ they keep planting trees on their lands 3/ they have all the leftover of distillation used by other industry such as local baker 4/ they initiated a bird life project with the WWF 5/ they introduced bees on their lands 6/ they grow their own organic rye and grains (etc)

SPIRITS BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Issue # 83
p.6 Big story on "how spirits players react to cannabis legalisation in the Us and beyond" which is a sensitive and crucial subject to think about and I'm happy spirits business is finally addressing it. I do think it is where competition lies for spirits producers.  Will the rise of cannabis mean the decrease of alcohol consumption ? Can they co-exist? In other words can you be drunk and stone at the same time ? Will spirits suffer as much as other alcohol or not ? If yes, how ?

The article describes where legalisation has been voted in the US, where it will soon and which other countries in the world already implemented this policy (Portugal, Netherland, etc). It mentionned how "cannabis-based drinks are set to become (big) disruptors" and taking colorado as a test case it seems that wines and beers, most often consummed in a home environment, suffer more than spirits, similarly consumed outside the home, in bars.

The article wonders if there are new opportunities to explore (hybrid cananabis+alcohol products) for spirits in relation to cannabis and quotes the example of Marie Brizzard's recently launched SHOTKA which is a vodka offering cannabis taste (but not the cannabis effects).
Will new spirits be launched with not only the flavours but also the effects ? It seems hard as where can they be sold ? It seems that there will always be one of the ingredients forbidden somewhere in the current state of the law.

Another question the article raised is if the "rise of cannabis impairs the burgeoning at home cocktail market category".

Worth reading :

• p. 32 all about "innovative spirits of 2016"
  
• p. 38 another award - spirits business needs to place itself - this excepted an interesting focus on distilleries and distillers (the often unsung heroes of the industry)
• p. 56. a long article about italian spritz
  
• p. 62 an exciting and interesting article about how clubbing changed in the past years and how spirits brands adapted. Less clubs, the raise of a cocktail culture, premiumisation of the offer. A good example of a smart positioning is Absolut. in 2016 Absolut launched the Absolut Nights a campaign aiming at redefining global nightlife, using experiences and spaces that transform themselves (cinema AND club, restaurant AND club) with a premium a rationalised drinks offer.
  
• p. 67 the top 5 Oslo bars !