For the food and drinks industry, Instagram is an unescapable source of advertisement. Whether your brand has embraced social media or not, your plates and glasses will be popping up in someone’s Story feed — if it’s aesthetic enough, of course. This potential crowd of eyes can be so beneficial in spreading the word about your products, even more so if it goes viral!
According to Deliveroo, the trend of Instagrammable food is not only here to stay, it’s rising. The takeaway giants highlighted a number of delicious items that are most likely to get snapped, including the always-popular milkshake. But what other drinks trends are sent to take 2020 by storm? Stay ahead of the competition and make sure you’re serving the right stuff in 2020!
Learning from 2019
2019 saw the health kick well and truly, well, kick in! From turmeric lattes to fermented drinks, customers were more health conscious than they have ever been. This was further supported by in the introduction of the sugar tax in the UK, which not only turned people away from sugar-filled drinks, but seemed to encourage trying more bitter-tasting beverages.
Of course, there’s already a highly popular, on-trend, and as bitter-as-you-like-it drink dominating the market. Coffee in all of its forms has become synonymous with trendy drinking, and thanks to its adaptability, has remained a firm favourite each year. If cold drinks take centre stage like in 2019, iced coffee can compete. Non-dairy trends? Coffee with soya milk, oat milk, or a hundred other alternatives can suit a customer’s taste. Whatever the trend, coffee has the uncanny ability to flex its way into the arena!
Whether consumers opted for coffee, tea, or a soft drink, the concept of reusable bottles and travel mugs was a supporting backbone of 2019, and it looks set to continue in 2020 drinks trends. From environmental concerns to having the ability to truly customise drinks, consumers have really taken to reusable drinking vessels in the last year.
Looking ahead to 2020
2020 drinks trends are predicted to build from the popular choices of 2019, and it’s these trends that will spring up on Instagram.
One key trend, according to The Drinks Business is the concept of “less, but better”. Spring boarding off the back of our health-conscious spark in 2019, 2020 will see consumers loosening their wallets more if it means getting better quality, better ingredients, and a better experience from their drinks. Take a moment to review your suppliers to ensure you’re receiving such ingredients — for example, if you’re running a café, a high-quality wholesale coffee beans UK supplier can really boost the calibre of your beverages.
High-quality drinks will always have a spotlight on Instagram, and 2020 will be no different!
But we’re not against having a little treat every now and again! Though the low-to-no alcohol trend is still going strong into 2020, people aren’t averse to a treat at the end of the week. But it looks as though the ever-popular gin may finally be knocked off the top shelf in favour of another tipsy resurgence.
Rum, while being more expensive and difficult to produce compared to gin, is tipped to be a favourite in 2020. Between customer fatigue in gin and the aforementioned “less, but better” mentality, the complexity of rum production could very well afford it a slot as a 2020 drinks trend. Experts say the challenge now is to rebrand rum’s image from a cheap party drink to a premium spirit — but if gin managed to shake off its senior-citizen drink of choice image, we’re sure rum can leave its sailor’s image in the water!
With bitter drinks rising up after the sugar tax, rum challenging gin’s domination, and the classic Instagram moment of a whipped cream-topped milkshake, could a combination of all three trends hit social media soon?
Meet the Calypso coffee — a luxury, warming beverage that ticks all the boxes for your 2020 customers:
Ingredients:
- 30ml dark crème de cacao
- 30ml spiced rum
- 120ml hot coffee
- Whipped cream
- Chocolate shavings
Method:
- Mix together your freshly brewed coffee, spiced rum, and dark crème de cacao into a coffee mug.
- Use whipped cream to decorate the drink, sprinkle with chocolate shavings, and serve. Of course, this drink is perfect for trying out a variety of different toppings!
Instagram cameras love a beautiful beverage. Be sure to push the boat out not only with your drinks menu, but with the ingredients going into your concoctions in order to wow your customers in 2020.
