10.10.11
Fizzling Out
Michael Szyliowicz

For years fizzy drink sales were the rule—not the exception—when eating out.

QSRs and fast food operators relied on sodas for both easy sales and high profits. Lately, though, that trend is changing. Fewer fizzy drinks are being sold, and there is a simultaneous rise in specialty coffee and tea beverages.

Just check out this recent study by The NPD Group, which examines how soft drink sales have diminished drastically over the years. The chart on the right side of this post shows how iced tea and specialty coffee have really surged in the past year. 

One astute operator I spoke to has showcased different flavors of iced tea next to the soda dispenser and watched sales increase fivefold. Other players are featuring higher ticket and higher margin coffee drinks to accompany their hamburgers and salads. Drive-thrus are no longer the sole province of soda pop. Like drinks that are left out too long, carbonated beverage sales are flat. Consumers have been trained to expect more variety, and successful operators are those introducing the unusual, interesting, and differentiated drinks. Unusual teas. Iced coffees. Flavored lemonades. Energy drinks.

That just scratches the surface, and I’m looking forward to seeing what bubbles up next…

carbonated drinks, iced tea, smoothies, soft drinks, specialty beverages, specialty coffee
03.21.11
Soft Drinks. Soft Sales.
Michael Szyliowicz

For the sixth straight year, soft drink sales are down. For some operators, these figures create bottom-line margin pressure because of the inherent profitability of fountain drinks.

Savvy operators, however, are diversifying their beverage offerings to feature an array of new drinks. What’s replacing the ubiquitous soft drink? Coffee brewed hot and served cold, cappuccinos, lattes, mochas, teas served hot and cold, flavored and iced, lemonades, fruit smoothies, and chocolate drinks featured both hot and frozen – to name just a few. Accompanied with higher price points and equally strong profit margins, specialty beverages offer café and QSR operators a strategy to offset the decline in soda sales.

As consumer tastes change, adapting and innovating with new beverages is key to maintaining a successful operation.

Beverages, Innovation
coffee, frozen, iced tea, lemonade, smoothies, soft drinks, specialty beverages
03.15.11
A Tasty Bit O’ Nostalgia
Rebecca Gelston

Marketing Manager Rebecca Gelston worked with the Mont Blanc Gourmet innovation team to create a homemade mint concoction for St. Patrick’s Day. Nostalgia is a remarkable thing, and I believe it is the primary force behind the legendary “limited time offer” that is the Shamrock Shake. The excitement, hoopla and hubbub surrounding the Shamrock Shake stupefies me every year. With a little help from our innovation team, I set out to create a Shamrock alternative using our vanilla blender drink mix, Vanilla Cold Fusion. Simply blend 2 cups of ice with 4 ounces of Vanilla Cold Fusion, 4 ounces of milk and a handful of mint leaves for about 15 seconds. Fresh...

Beverages, Innovation
holiday, lto, mint, seasonal, smoothies
10.12.10
Producing Fruitful Partnerships
Michael Szyliowicz

Fruit smoothies have been popular for some time, and they are appearing on more and more beverage menus nationwide. As a result, we at Mont Blanc Gourmet have been asked by customers to develop competitive drink options using fresh fruit. Although we have worked with fruit in the past, these new requests require a different level of processing and sophistication. Today, I found myself in California with our Director of Quality Assurance visiting a potential new co-packer that can produce fresh fruit products for us and our customers. When we consider plants as potential manufacturing partners, we conduct a rigorous audit to make sure that they meet our and our customers’ standards. Over the years, we have rejected many food-processing operations simply because we were not comfortable with their level of expertise, knowledge or equipment. In this case, however, we were pleasantly surprised. The plant we visited processes more than 100 million pounds of fruit a year. Much of that fruit comes from its own farms, before it is cleaned, sliced, diced, pureed and packaged in many forms.

Our first project with this plant will require fresh...

Beverages, Diary of a Chocolatier
co-packer, fruit, manufacturing partners, smoothies