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/ Beverages
In good spirits Taste is important, but what else determines a good beverage choice for service onboard? April Waterston investigates
T
ake one look at the 2022 Onboard Hospitality Awards entries and you’ll see our beverage category is bursting with innovative beverage products. From water to wine, tomato juice and iced matcha tea, the entries reflect a demand for variety onboard and many come with eco credentials too. Increasingly as buyers make their choices though it’s not just taste that’s important, but also packaging, product design, sustainability and provenance that can make or break a successful onboard collaboration.
Brand match I asked Benedict Fanconi, SWISS Inflight Product Europe, how SWISS chooses its onboard beverages. He said: “We have an evaluation matrix through which we rate all products.
Beverages are assessed base on the following ratings: taste, design of product, premiumness, Swissness, storytelling potential, organic, regionality, sustainability of packaging and the commercials. “For me, all of the above play a role in choosing a product but of course besides taste we also want that a beverage fits our brand,” he says. Partnerships with big brands onboard can benefit all parties involved – something the cruise sector in particular has capitalised on. P&O, for example, has added theatre to its ships with onboard distilleries. Salcombe Gin is behind a bespoke spirit made on Iona (the ship has a dedicated gin bar with 300 varieties), while new vessel Arvia, will have its own sea-inspired rum The Tidal Rum - produced specially for the cruise line onboard by a specialist producer from Jersey.
onboardhospitality.com onboardhospitality.
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5/26/22 07:06 PM
