Our second half guest brings to the show another trend we are experiencing, but in a very mellow, laid back, yet exciting and cutting edge direction. From prohibition to ultra mod distilling and tasting bars, our guest, Paul Martin, Brand Ambassador and Tasting Room manager for the new cult classic in the Oxbow Market, Napa Valley Distillery. With his encyclopedic knowledge of liquor, we'll travel from prohibition, to speakeasy, "Dean Martin days", to the current boom taking off. We'll learn that "bitters" ain't just "bitters"!
Paul Martin
Brand Ambassador
Tasting Room Manager
The First Distillery located in the city of Napa since
Prohibition. Family owned and operated by Arthur and Lusine Hartunian, Napa
Valley Distillery was founded on one basic principal - Make it different!
Napa
Valley Distillery is a family-owned and operated micro-distillery founded
by Arthur and Lusine Hartunian out of their passion for premium, small-batch
craft spirits and their love of the Napa Valley. Napa Valley Distillery
features a unique variety of fruit-based distilled spirits, shrubs, tonics and
syrups from around the world, as well as several brands of bitters that are not
available anywhere in the U.S. Their flagship product is Napa Vodka Vintage
Reserve, made entirely from Single Vintage Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc. They
also make pre-prohibition era barrel-aged cocktails, like the Negroni and East
India and seasonal liqueurs like their platinum medal-winning Meyer lemon
liqueur. Napa Valley Distillery also stocks a large collection of authentic
vintage bar ware from the early 1900’s.
The unique boutique at Oxbow Market
offers complimentary tastings of over 300 different cocktail bitters, syrups,
shrubs and other cocktail essentials from all over the world.
Open Monday, Wednesday-Saturday, 9 am-7 pm; Tuesday, 9 am-8 pm;
Sunday, 9 am-6 pm
Maeve Webster
Senior Director,
Datassentials; Chicago, Il
Maeve Webster, a senior director at Datassential,
is a lead consultant for foodservice manufacturers, operators, and
distributors. She has spearheaded over 300 major industry studies during her 12
years as a foodservice specialist, and today designs and manages both consumer
and operator-based studies in Datassential’s strategic research group. During
the past decade, Maeve helped develop several of Datassential’s new products
and programs including the several new publications, Global Culinary Tour, the
TIPS report, and Optimizer—a service that provides manufacturers and operators
with recommendations on optimal product mixes for the menu. She also heads the
company’s Health & Wellness consulting group, authoring the Healthy Profits
series of reports and participating in several industry initiatives. Maeve’s
expertise is in the areas of trend analysis, market assessment, consumer
behavior, product testing, and brand optimization. She is a regular speaker at
industry events and is a collegiate guest instructor on the topic of market
research. Maeve earned her MBA at the University of Illinois and holds a
culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago. (Chicago, IL)
Defining the Millennial Diner
A growing segment larger than their Gen X predecessors, millennials are
already shaping up to be the next largest dining demographic following boomers.
With an age range as broad as its dining preferences, the foodservice industry
continues to scratch its head at the best way to define this segment. But
therein lies the problem: generalization. To deal with the millennial age gap,
Chicago-based foodservice research firm Datassential now measures millennials
based on “adult millennials” (ages 25 to 34) and “young millennials” (ages 18
to 24). Maeve Webster says adult millennials are much more adventurous and
drive trends, while younger consumers are much more broad in tastes and less
likely to experiment. Ironically, “nostalgia foods” like red velvet and tater
tots are considered cutting-edge and experimental to the younger millennials
because they never experienced the original.
Technology is also important to both demographics. In a study conducted by
Datassential, 48 percent of operators said they are using email to target
millennials. But that's not the way they like to communicate. Seventy-eight
percent of millennial diners use a smartphone, but use email for personal
communication, whereas 45 percent of millennial diners have used an app to
choose where to eat or what to order. Because of this, adult millennials are
more likely to use restaurant apps to check in, review and make reservations.
Taking photos while eating at restaurants is now a requisite part of the
millennial dining experience, so let them get snap happy—it actually serves as
free PR for your operation. - See more at: http://foodfanatics.usfoods.com/blog/5-trends-from-cia-worlds-of-flavor#sthash.mFUhaJPW.dpuf
