VinePair Podcast: What will 2021 bring to the beverage world?

It is difficult to predict the year of the drink, but it is even more difficult to do so in 2021. From uncertainty about how to vaccinate the general public quickly and widely, to questions about stimulating and supporting bars and restaurants, many variables need to be considered. However, some things seem to be feasible. In this week’s “VinePair Podcast”, Adam Teeter and Zach Geballe provided predictions for the new year.
With the rise of family bartending and ordering at home during the lock-in period, cocktail bars will need to provide a more complex and engaging experience to attract potential drinkers, especially with the continuous proliferation of ready-made beverages and ready-made beverages. Provide cocktail products. If the public avoiding leisure travel becomes safe again, they may flock to traditional wine tourism destinations such as Napa Valley in the second half of 2021. Will the hard-hit tourism industry be able to cope with this influx of business? These are the predictions discussed in this week’s episode.
Z: I know. This is a weird time warp, because not surprisingly, we are recording that time before New Year’s Eve. In the future, everyone will be listening. This is often the case, but as most people have pointed out, it is at the end of the year. We will reach our prediction in a minute, but boy, I have been looking forward to the whole 2020 will not be 2020. I don’t think I have been as excited as I am now in the past year.
Answer: I think this is the case for most people. Before we get into the trailer, please listen to today’s sponsor’s testimonials. Are you planning to reduce calories and alcohol content, but still want to enjoy a delicious glass of wine? I absolutely need to reduce calories. Body and Mind Wine is the perfect solution for you. These low-calorie, low-alcohol wines consume only 90 calories per serving, and are vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO foods, and are made without added sugar. With Mind&Body Wines, you can drink without sacrificing. For more information, please visit mindandbodywines.com. And now, Zach, we are thinking about what will happen in 2021, and then enter it, do you want to reflect on anything since 2020, which is absolutely delicious? Have you encountered something like “Man, I’m really glad I ate that thing”?
Z: Well, we all added our favorite drink of 2020 in the last episode. So if you missed it, please listen. Adam and I summarized what happened, but in the end, we got everyone in the VinePair team, including you and me, who mentioned one or two favorite drinks of the year. So, that’s interesting. If you want more, you can listen to it. But last week, it was interesting, and I would sound a bit like you. Although obviously this is a wine that we both like. But I did a lot of things on this podcast, just like you did a lot, that night I opened a very good Barolo bottle from the producer Marengo, and I really like a bottle from the Bricco delle Viole vineyard. Obviously, that is one of the things I drink so many different wines. You will hear some of them in podcasts, but all of them, but Barolo has always been one of my favorites, and I always believe it will be one of my favorites. Then I come back to it from time to time. My wife is also a fanatic. This is all I want for a bottle of Barolo. It has the tannins and acidity expected by Nebbiolo, but it is rich in aroma and has many violet colors, so it has the name of the vineyard and the smoky flavor, and it is delicious. We will make predictions in one minute, but this reminds us, “Oh yes, this is one of the best wine regions in the world, and it makes sense.”
A: Yes, buddy. So I did drink some Barolo. But there is something I have never done before, and realized that this is actually much easier than I thought, and that is paper airplanes. So I made paper airplanes for one night and they were delicious. I mean, I don’t have Aperol, so I used Select. So it is much darker red. Therefore, the “paper airplane” actually emits a much darker red. But I actually like it very much, it’s really great. Naomi thought, “Wow, this seems to be a holiday theme.” It was just a crimson cocktail. And it’s really delicious, I forgot its taste. This is one of the cocktails I want to order, but I never make it at home, mainly because I usually say something like: “Oh, I don’t have amaro, and I don’t have Nonino. I just want to use other amaro.” Again, It does work well. I highly recommend it to people. Then, I also made another cocktail, which I also enjoyed during the break, “The Last Words”. That is another very delicious cocktail. Again, it’s like, “Why do I have maraschino maraschino? Why do I have green yellow-green? I think I’ll figure it out.” I like both. They had a great time during the holidays. Now we are entering 2021, maybe I don’t have to drink all the time. I already have my rolling mill and I have been doing it all the time. As I told you before, I usually take two to three days off without drinking alcohol a week. Then on the other days of the week, I will have a drink, and then on Friday and Saturday, we will drink a bottle of wine or something like that. I don’t think I have been drinking for several weeks. It feels a lot. What I’m talking about is that I don’t think the dryness in January of this year will be a big deal. I still don’t think so. I do think I am ready to regain some shape.
Z: I think this is a good transition to the prediction we are going to make. Because you mentioned that January is dry, I think you are right. I think we are in this very strange time. correct? Especially in the first half of 2021, there are real signs of hope on the one hand. People are being vaccinated. It seems that by the end of 2021, when you and I are conducting year-end review and forecasting for 2022, life may be more like 2019 than 2020. For most of us, there is still a way to go. Especially those who are not front-line workers and high-risk individuals. It may take several months for any of us to be vaccinated. Therefore, many of my forecasts may split 2021 revenue in half. But I want to start with topics that I think are related to the cocktails you are talking about. In other words, I think that when people go out to drink, as we talked about last week, I think successful bars and cocktail bars are bars and cocktail bars that provide an experience that you cannot replicate at home. , Unless you are an obsession. So Tiki, I think those places are making real cocktails. I bet that after making “Paper Airplane” and “The Last Words” at home, you will say: “Do I want to spend 18 dollars for this in a bar, or do I want to spend 18 dollars for something worth 180,000 yuan? Will try it at home?” So I think that for the cocktail-drinking public, these nine months, ten months, eleven months, plus more time before the bar reopens, will be people To figure out Manhattan, figure out old-fashioned, they came up with martinis, whether it’s classic cocktails or Negroni and so on. I just think that if you want to become a cocktail bar in 2021, you must shake people’s hearts in the same way as ten years ago. At that time, handmade cocktail bars were indeed on the rise. I think this is where we want to see people paying attention, because what they want is what they can’t do at home, and they want to show, right? I think we will see the sling back. That’s what I want to say.
Answer: I think so. I will use this as a basis because I think it is a complete idea. Therefore, I think there are two things: First, you are 100% correct. Second, another reason is because we will see RTS or RTD, but what you want to say is that ready-to-drink beverages will become popular in 2021. The handicraft brand that has been doing. But I’m talking about the Bacardi, Diages, and Brown-Formans in the world. Their brands will be related to Martini, Manhattan and Manhattan. This will be all over the spirit store. Again, if you don’t want to make it at home, you will now be able to buy it for most people. It is a very sturdy version of the same cocktail, which can be packed in a box, in a bottle, and eaten all at once. And you won’t spend the same money on it. It costs more to drink the same wine. correct? If all of a sudden, and I don’t have any information to support this operation, then let us say, if Kettle One suddenly starts bottling martinis, by the way, Tanqueray does the same thing. We already know that Tanqueray came out with gin and supplements this summer, right? Why do you pay when you triple the price? you are not. Or other bars that I think will be successful, will be bars where people spend a good time, right? As we even said, these bars pair very well with this summer’s frozen drinks, margaritas, gin and tonics, vodka soda, rum and cola. There will be those bars, and there will be a lot of fun. Then there is the serious cocktail bar, where you are willing to spend 18 to 20 dollars for a cocktail. However, I don’t think anyone will spend 16 dollars on old-fashioned ideas anymore. Unless it’s located in a place that didn’t exist as a bar in the first place. So I mean restaurants, right? Your situation is, “Well, I’m already here. And I want to use old-fashioned food while waiting for my table or when I start my meal. So I ordered one because it’s a cocktail and I’m really Like it.” But if you want to go to a cocktail bar specifically to go to a cocktail bar, I think you are absolutely right. Because when we can really widely use RTD and RTS, many cocktails will become easier to enjoy at home.
Z: I really want to know, Adam, this is what I thought of when you talked, not what I really thought about. But I want to know, even in the situation you describe, in a restaurant, I also want to know how many restaurants there are, and I have some ideas about the restaurants I’m going to, and how many of them really really need special services. The bartender? If you can get a high-quality RTS or RTD cocktail like in a normal nearby restaurant, do you really want to pay someone to make Manhattan? Pour it on ice or anything else. You can put a bottle of pre-mixed martini in the refrigerator, pour it into a martini glass, decorate and eat. And you don’t have to pay to stir the cocktail. I am not sure right away that this will be acceptable to people. But as these products become more common, I think this will happen. Frankly speaking, there are many cocktails, and I don’t even think it’s a bad thing. Some people think that some of me will be frustrated by the lack of bartenders in restaurants and bars, because some people think it’s good for us to have jobs that people can do, because especially in this country, our society still really demands You have a job. For most people, work should be part of society in any meaningful way. I do think that you will see a lot of these positions in restaurants and bars, and then say: “Well, if I can pay basically the same cost for a pre-mixed martini, if my watering costs are the same as buying ice cream The price is basically the same for a bottle of gin and a bottle of absinthe, and then I don’t have to pay others.” For me, if you are a restaurant, that’s a very difficult value proposition. And I’m sure that large companies will be willing to subsidize the cost to a certain extent, so that these products will not only enter liquor stores and grocery stores, but also restaurants and bars.
Answer: One hundred percent. Therefore, I think we will see another major trend this year, and this is more of a predicted trend, because the global return to normal will be uneven. I mean, I think we are going to see many countries, and by the way, we have accidentally launched our own vaccine here and understand how that vaccine works. Go to other countries with different organizational systems, right? I think it will take longer for us to launch our version of the vaccine than to launch a vaccine that might be produced in Italy or Germany, for example. We may start to see those countries returning to normal. For those trade people who listen to these large conferences, there may be VinItaly in person this year, right? I mean, I heard that this might happen this summer, right? There may not be many Americans attending. But there may be a lot of people from Europe participating, because they all get the vaccine faster than us. There may be ProWein this year. There may be other versions of Bar Convent, right? Because the Bar Convent Abbey in Berlin happened in autumn. correct? So if everyone in Germany is vaccinated, this could still happen this year, right? We may not have Brooklyn Bar Abbey. Or, we might not tell the story in the same way, depending on how the deployment looks like. So, what I want to say is that I will get frustrated. I think looking outside at a certain time, the same is true for other countries, right? Because we are all figuring it out by ourselves. We have seen this from what happened in 2020, the first is how each country handles the virus, right? Whoever asked for a mask, who didn’t. Who locks the trip. Who doesn’t will be the same. What I want to say is that I don’t think that 2021 will be completely normal until the end of the year you mentioned Zach is likely to come. I think that at the same time, there will be some frustration. Some people say, “Oh, well, this doom and melancholy, wait, wait, wait.” I don’t think this will eventually become a reality, but I think it may feel like a few months. When we see that there are other countries where vaccination is faster or more closely organized. And we haven’t, so we can’t get back to normal soon.
Z: Of course. This is interesting because my list of predictions is related to this. Therefore, what I want to say is that one thing I want to achieve is that the third quarter and absolute fourth quarter of 2021 will become the behemoths of the wine tourism industry. We can discuss with others on different podcasts and different dimensions. But to be honest. During this period of time, different areas of this country and different areas of society have been greatly affected, or have been affected to varying degrees. Frankly speaking, there are a lot of people doing financially well. They can work from home. Frankly speaking, they may spend less on many things this year than they would have originally. Yes, they may have gone out and bought a racing boat or Peloton, or they paid an astronomical price for free weight or anything sent to their home. thing. But in most cases, most of them do not travel. They may not eat out so much. For many people, when it feels safe, when things reopen to some extent, I mean Napa, Sonoma, and maybe if the weather is good, the Finger Lakes, Virginia, and Europe, too. If people can go there safely and legally, I think the tourism industry will have a lot of travel in the second half of the year, because many people miss this factor. Obviously, this will have a significant impact on tourism other than wine, but that is what we are talking about here. Therefore, this will be a huge year. However, what I think will also become complicated is the extent to which hospitality, tourism, and air travel are affected to some extent by the suffering places and industries, even though they are obviously heavily subsidized. Will they be able to meet this demand? I think this is another big problem.
Answer: It will be fun. This is an anecdote, the airline has not yet released this information. I think the third and fourth quarters are wise choices. The reason is that I think most people in the United States want them to get the vaccine in June or July, right? So this means the second half of the year, but it is really as heavy as September, October, November, and December of that year. Therefore, I think that in the last four months of this year, at the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter, people will feel that they are really safe. And I have seen a lot of people posted online throughout the week, and they moved on and bought the ticket at that time next year, because the ticket price is now the lowest ever. People say, “Well, if I need to, I’m going to take risks. If I need to cancel, I can buy insurance or reimbursement.” But people say that they see that the round-trip airfare from New York to Vienna during Christmas is very comfortable, just $400. Flights to Rome. It’s just that no one is traveling at the moment, so airlines keep prices low. So I think you are right. I think this will be a group of people who are planning to move forward and say: “I want to catch it.” Someone will do a good job and say, “Tighten it, I don’t care. By June, when I was going to book that trip in the fall, the price had tripled. I also had to pay because I was on the market in 2020. Made a lot of money.” And they are leaving. I think this will be a period of prosperity. I hope that these tourist locations are ready for the staff. Because I think you are right. This will be the biggest question, because so many places have laid off employees and graduated, are they ready? Is it the same person who wants to work in the market?
Z: Well, this is another big prediction of mine, or at least something worth paying attention to in 2021. I think the demand will exist there, the tourism demand will also exist there, and the food and drinking demand will also be borne by the individual in his hometown or city. But I think this is a huge unanswered question. It must be partially resolved by the federal government and the state government to some extent. It must also be answered by people like you and me and everyone else when it comes to restaurants. When and the bar, these people will reopen. Where can they meet this demand? Because the demand will exist 100%. The second half of this year may be a bumper year, and it may be restaurants and bars. Because every last person is tired of the troubles of eating at home and drinking at home. Do our best to appreciate some of them. I think that there are indeed some things that will linger what we are talking about, and certain cocktails will be cocktails at home, not cocktails when going out. But the point is that people will want to do ***. What I mean is that we see this situation now when most people do things unsafe, and it’s even more so when people feel it’s safe or fairly safe to do so. Yes it is. But, of course, the biggest question is whether all the reopened places are only places with company funds behind them? Is there a huge multinational company behind it? I do not know. To be honest, this is one of the most difficult questions to answer, because we are still in this period of time, and many places where quotations have been cancelled are temporarily closed. These places have not officially announced that they will be closed, but we are figuring out whether the federal government has provided them. Funds to help small, independent restaurants and bars reopen, which will make individual operators pay more than they can afford in most cases. Especially if they don’t have huge savings, it may be because they tried to survive the early stages of the pandemic and were burned. I just don’t know whether these places will reopen, whether they will reopen as before, and whether they will be consistent with the spirit of support that I and you generally like to support. This is not a problem that can be solved. Huge restaurant chain. I don’t know, honestly I don’t know​​. I hope I can confidently say that I can predict that the community attractions I have worked in and the small restaurant companies we like will be back online. I think I will have to wait and see.
A: I think what will happen, we are talking about opening, we will see the biggest set of new faces in the hotel industry in decades, new money and new names, because the barriers to entry are low. The power structure has been dismantled. No, right? Now is coming, can you afford real estate and have money? As we said before, some people are champions of the hospitality industry. Another generation may have been saving and not opening up, right? I think there will be many places where the mothers and pop music we are talking about will be people we have never seen before. Because I think many people we know are in trouble, have lost a lot, and may have left or left the city where we live. Maybe they will go to open the Hudson Valley or somewhere in Pennsylvania or Jersey. Because they want to stay near Seattle, or stay near the city for you, maybe they will go to a wine region or any other place, and then open a good restaurant where they can afford the rent. Because they have finished the city work, right? Because they might be messed up by the landlord. But I think many people don’t have this kind of experience, because maybe during this pandemic, they are still in the financial field or in the consulting field, anyway, they did a good job, and now they want to support something and have A partner who was really good at making bread during the pandemic. They will open a bakery together. I mean, who knows? But I heard these things. I just think it’s really interesting to see what happens. In the past few months, the biggest question we talked about the most is, what is the structure of this restaurant? How many people will be employed for each job? Or this will be a brand new business model, right? How much does each restaurant, even a casual community restaurant, cost, right? Or are you really good at buying wine? Because you drink because of an epidemic, you can do it yourself. Why do you need to hire someone with certain certifications, right? Because you are a place that only opens at the end of the day, it does serve thick soup burgers, delicious salads, and even fried chicken. Do you know what I mean? If this is what you are doing, somme is not needed. Because as you said, people will desperately just go out to eat, including burgers. I want to eat a burger. I want to go to a crowded restaurant. I want wine that can be paid. I am prepared for this, I think most people can. People will go crazy. I think it’s good. I think we are about to see a new version of “The Roaring Twenties”. I think it will be a huge roar, and in the 1920s roaring again, people will really go to parties in the next two years. Again, we have talked about this issue, but those who think we just graduated from college, got married, and people who went out after giving birth to our first child. With all these things, people think they missed it and you will try to catch up. So I think it will mean that people will spend more income. In the long run, whether this is a good thing for health and a healthy economy, maybe not. They may not save as much as they should, even though they do have this idea: “Well, maybe I do need that rainy day fund.” I just thought it would be really interesting to see what it looks like. But what excites me is that I do think that you will bring a lot of new blood to this industry and people we don’t know. Because they are, they start making cocktails and stuff, and then say, “I want to have a cocktail bar.” They might do it. This also means that we are about to see the return of the Ogre Death Watcher, and there will be many places where this is not done because the people who run them are green. In the past month, many people contacted me, for example, “Hey, I’m thinking about opening a bar, I will like some ideas” or “Hey, I’m going to open this very cool cocktail bar, I live in Brooklyn.” In fact, many people
Answer: Not at all. I don’t want to do that. But I do think that throughout the pandemic, many people are thinking about this issue, such as: “Yes, I did a good job. I also hate my job. So I want to do it. It sounds interesting.” “And, they haven’t experienced any pain experienced by people who own restaurants because of this pandemic, have they? Therefore, they will participate directly without having to participate, and they will own capital. It will be very interesting.
Z: Of course. Along these lines of thought, I have always had an idea-you talked about whether the structure of these restaurants and bars will be the same as before-I think at the same time, you will see a serious decline in the first two real things. One is that I think the tipping culture is gradually disappearing. And I think that many places that reopen will not be centered on tipping. And I think the other thing that will change is that I think we will make a bigger fork in the industry between full service and temporary service or counter service.
Answer: You are 100% correct. I have to say the same. I know you listened to the Popina interview I attended. So when I moved from Atlanta to New York ten years ago, many restaurants used Popina instead of the pandemic, right? They are not casual. This is not Chipotle. They are casual dining venues, offering top-notch beverage programs, and more. However, everything was ordered at the counter. Then you sit down, there is only one runner. There is Taqueria Del Sol. With Figo, there are many people in Atlanta. I am always shocked because I come to New York. There are two things here: Either a sit-down restaurant with servers, menus, etc., or everything that I want to be the next Chipotle. And I think the middle ground that James will always insist on will continue to exist. And I think he will stay, right? I think he will at least provide some services, maybe he can eat on Friday and Saturday nights, or serve at the counter during the day. who knows? But I think you are absolutely correct, in many places. People will go to a place where they can order solid burgers, but have to sit down and order a good bottle of wine from the list, and then bring it to their table with the burger. I think you are completely correct. It’s really fun to look at.
Z: I think this is also one of the things that you realize that the industry is about to be reset and will continue to do many such things, “Well, this is the way we have been doing this” policies and practices that seem really outdated . Unfortunately again, in all of this, especially the laborers working at the front desk will be the losers. Because that is my main source. This has many advantages. But the honest truth is that people’s experience of liking restaurants is related to service. It’s about sitting down and inviting someone to your table to bring you a menu or discussing the menu with you and accepting your order. It’s fun. There will be many restaurants doing this, but I think their number will decrease. Because for most people, if you place an order at the counter and sit down instead of sitting at the table and looking at the menu there, most dining experiences are not significantly different. Moreover, it allows operators to cut costs, which will be huge, because whether it is an existing enterprise that is trying to restart or some new enterprise that does not have a large amount of financial support, they will be short of funds. I think you will see it again, and hope this is not a weed or technical problem, but I think you will see many distributors and conveyors also behave very poorly. f ***** By the way, the situation has declined, especially in March and April, when people closed business and basically said: “Hey, look, I don’t have any business. I can’t pay the money you owe me. I can’t You will be paid for the wine you received last week.” And many places have a 30-day or 60-day clause, so you don’t have to pay when you get to your door. Once you have sold a substantial amount, or when you get cash flow from it, you can pay. The same is true for food, etc. I think you will see a lot of distributors and conveyors that still exist, and may be able to sell to grocery stores or where delivery and takeaway are in progress, etc. They will also remain cautious. Everyone will remain cautious. I mean, there has been a lot of cash in barrel transactions for some time. Therefore, you can reduce labor costs, especially reducing labor costs at the front of the house. I have the last two predictions, like a happy ending and an unhappy prediction. Therefore, I am happy for most of us, and I think that in the early days of Biden’s tenure, European wine and spirits tariffs will be eliminated. I really don’t think this is a persistent thing, meaning zero to anyone. Indeed, all levels of every industry, no matter how big or small, agree to impose tariffs. In this country, no one can benefit from it, which means I don’t think it will last longer than the current president. Unfortunately, I think I used to be very optimistic that many of the things that have happened in this pandemic will make a great effort to truly make direct-to-consumer (especially alcohol transportation) work. I am not very optimistic about this. I don’t think we will see major changes in 2021. This does not mean that we will never see them. However, I think one thing that happened in the pandemic is that power has been consolidated more firmly around the world. Some big brands, because they have been the ones who really killed it (big companies). And I think they have no vested interest in changing things. Large distributors are very interested in maintaining control of alcohol distribution. And I just didn’t see enough sudden changes in 2021, I hope I am wrong. I really am, but this is my two-part legalist prediction.
A: Yes. I have another prediction, but I want to comment on one thing you said. I think you are right about DTC. I think there will be more people doing DTC occasionally than before. Those who screamed that DTC is the future and are building the next great X, Y or ZI think this is incorrect. That’s because you cannot replicate the online shopping experience. People have been trying until they can build a model similar to Pandora or Spotify for alcohol, which is very difficult, especially considering all the different labels. What is this? 130,000 new wines entered the market last year, right? Unless you can figure it out, only big brands can do this. Large brands are already in supermarkets. They are already in the liquor store. And I think what most consumers still value is to walk into the store and ask someone, and point out: “Hey, I read about this orange wine on VinePair. Can you point out the orange wine in my store?” Because they don’t want to Sit and browse the content on wine.com. Don’t choose on wine.com, only all orange wines are available on wine.com. They don’t want to do that. That’s a waste of everyone’s time, right? Even though I feel this way about clothing, I do a lot of online clothing shopping-I am a stylish man and I like fashion-but I want to go back to the store because I want to end up with the people in the store, the brands I like and like “Hey, what great jacket are you wearing?” Leave him alone. Rather than looking for 35 parkas, this is what I am doing today, right? Figure out how I spend the winter. I just don’t want to do that. I think it will be a mix. We will gain something, but I don’t think it will reach the point where everyone thinks it is very honest. And I think you are there. Therefore, I firmly believe that another thing will happen in 2021. I think it will make many people who listen to podcasts, especially those who work with brands, etc., I am very happy. I firmly believe that data will continue to support the rise of high-end. Consumers continue to spend more money to buy wine, beer and spirits will continue. We have seen it growing in the pandemic. I don’t think this will change. I think, as we said, those who have done well in the pandemic will continue to do well. There will be no large-scale decline there. They will have money. They will look for quality wines. They will look for quality beer. I remember that at the beginning of the pandemic, I thought: “Oh, 4 packs of really expensive craft beer are going to die.” No, no, no. absolutely not. People are buying them. I’m wrong. I think this will continue in a very, very, very strong way, especially for people who want to go out to parties and celebrate and have a good time. Therefore, if you work with high-end brands, you will be in an advantageous position. If you are working with high-end brands that are under the price point of $15 and are truly under the price point of $10, I don’t think it will be as optimistic as people hope, as we said when we talked to them in April Like that. “Yes, it’s like the 2008 recession.” I don’t think it will be.
Z: Yes, you are right, because this recession is even worse than such a weird split. Those who plan to spend relatively expensive wines are largely unharmed. I mean, there are many things about this, we will see in the legislation, and what will happen in 2021. I think in general, you are right. I think that a wrong thing may be that we are wrong. I think that many people were wrong in the early days. It was in April or a certain period in April. Whenever, when people were accumulating, it was like “I want to Buy a bunch of cheap wine.” I think it also makes sense when people think they will be quarantined or just stay for a month, two or three months. When it becomes clear, s***, for those who know how long, this situation continues. People are like, “Do you know? I want to drink something I like. I didn’t just buy things in a panic because it was a $11 bottle of regular wine on the shelf when I happened to be in the grocery store. That was my only Something you can find.” I think you are right. I think high-end will continue and will continue to exist and will provide many opportunities.
A: At the beginning of the pandemic, everyone, including us, made a mistake. One of them is that we have seen all these mass layoffs happen, and we think this situation will continue. Yes, they are indeed affected in well-known industries, including our beloved industry, and this industry will need all our help. In the advertising industry, I’m talking to agencies or consulting, finance and other departments. They just use Covid as an excuse to cut and reduce fat, right? That’s what they did. You will hear from any economist who has studied this issue in the past few months, and this is basically the conclusion they have come to. Yes, all these industries are just using Covid as an excuse to literally cut the excess bulls and save money, and basically strive for excellence, right? They didn’t cut because they were bleeding. And I think we will see that this situation will be fully effective in 2021, when many of these companies will become completely okay, and workers who are not earning a good salary but intend to spend money. Zach, I can’t wait to talk about what will happen in 2021. Therefore, I think this will be a very exciting year. I think a lot of cool things will happen. Standing in the crowded bar again, I am absolutely excited. I don’t know you but we have been predicting our predictions intermittently for the past 30 minutes or so, but we threw it to some listeners and asked them. You have selected some of the best listeners you have sent to you via recording or on Instagram. What are these listeners’ predictions of our listeners, so I’ll let you play the package now.
Z: Do it. Hi everyone, Zach is here. We will hear some audience predictions in a minute, but I want to share some of the predictions we received via Instagram, of course on VinePair, and some interesting predictions that I really like. Harvest forecast for fruit brandy. I think this can be very exciting. Spirits are more transparent and therefore have better ingredient labels and nutritional information. Canned soda cocktails are again the call of high-end canned cocktails, and some of you think this will be a big deal. Hard Seltzer’s year will be bigger than 2020, and I think if everyone drinks in public places again, this might be the case. Frozen drinks. I think they had a good harvest this year, but I can see them take off again. Some upgraded fancy cocktail mixes can be used for home work, which is what Adam and I just talked about in this episode. Then, the pair of people I really like are those who talk about champagne cans. I don’t know which way the Champagne House will go, but you will never know. Then someone might give me a difficult time, thinking that we are going to be a harvest year for natural platinum powder. Therefore, we will receive voices from the audience within a second, but thank you all for sharing. As this year develops, we look forward to your thoughts on 2021.
Rockford: Hi, my name is Rockford. In 2020, consumers have realized how difficult it is to buy your wine and ship it to your house compared to groceries. So, for 2021, my trend is any move that can simplify this process or move that can simplify the overall rules that prevent us from delivering wine to your home. I think the pandemic has shown us the need for wine delivery. I saw this in a nearby Facebook group, and when people learned that Total Wine was shipped to our community, they burst into cheers.
Lucy: Hey VinePair staff, this is Lucy’s call from London. My prediction for 2021 is Mus Muscadet. In 2020, we see a strong interest in Beaujolais red wines. I think 2021 is the year of Cru Muscadet. This is an amazing wine driven by terroir. It goes well with food, without food, it has serious aging potential.
Morgan: How are you? VinePair listener, my name is Morgan Stutzman (Morgan Stutzman), I work in Trinchero Family Estates in marketing. I think this year will be a year of comfort and health. I think strong selectors will continue to grow, and as consumers seek more high-quality and different choices from traditional beer selectors, we will see wine-based selectors appear in this category. I think we will have more and more interest in better quality wine products. New young consumers are looking for more wine products that suit their active lifestyles without giving up a glass of wine at the end of the day. Finally, I think the RTD market will continue to grow this year. I think Margarita will continue to use the experience of going out at home. And with the coming of this year, people are likely to get together, I think the larger-sized classic cocktails will become a popular choice for receptions.
Z: Yes. We have some smart listeners. Well, actually, smart and smart. Some like “VinePair Podcast” got a new host”, but we will not play it.
A: So we won’t play those, come on. But Zach, let us persist until 2021. Can’t wait to talk more.
Thank you very much for listening to the VinePair podcast. If you like listening to us every week, please leave us a review or rating on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get a podcast. It really helps other people discover the show. Now, I co-produced VinePair with Zach Geballe. He also mixed and edited it. Yes, Zach, we know you do a lot. I would also like to thank the entire VinePair team, including my co-founder Josh and our associate editor Cat. Thank you very much for listening. See you next week.
This story is part of VP Pro, our free content platform and newsletter for the beverage industry, covering wine, beer and liquor and other products. Register VP Pro now!