Bacardi Cocktail Trends Report 2024: Conservation Concoctions

Originally published in the Bacardi Cocktail Trends Report

This Earth Month and throughout the year, bartenders and brands are reframing sustainability as a creative challenge – utilizing novel processes and harnessing innovative flavors that don’t just limit harm, but actively conserve the natural environment.

Sustainability in the drinks industry is here to stay. According to research from IWSR, 48% of U.S. alcohol drinkers say they consider a company’s sustainability or environmental initiatives before purchasing, while research from the Bacardi Global Consumer Survey shows that a large proportion of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainably made drinks or cocktails. In Mexico and South Africa, it’s listed as the number one reason to pay more by 79% of respondents, outranking lower calories, celebrity branding and even quality.

On premises, innovative processes are helping spirits and cocktails to deliver on sustainability too. The Bacardi Global Brand Ambassador Survey reveals growing bartender interest in zero-waste ingredients (46%) and ferments (36%), with techniques including distillation, clarification, infusion, carbonation, fermentation and freezing transforming discarded ingredients into creative offerings.

Taking inspiration from minimal-interference winemaking, Jigger & Pony in Singapore works with unfiltered spirits and typically discarded by-products to let cocktails – their ingredients, natural flavors and oils – speak for themselves. Goat kefir and mango skins are among the choices, while the venue’s pioneering Cloudy Kangaroo is a wet vodka Martini that combines the luscious texture and fruity notes of sake lees and strained soy milk with sherry and peach.

In 2024, innovation will move one step further, as mixologists look to Invasivorism – utilizing ingredients that disrupt the natural environment – to create new flavor pairings centered on conservation. Already, London-based zero-waste restaurant Silo uses Japanese knotweed in over 20 dishes and drinks to save on resources. Its Japanese Knotweed Sour combines bright flavors like fresh rhubarb with the earthy and floral notes of the invasive species. 

Consumers are increasingly interested in how their favorite drinks are packaged too. Spirits companies are taking huge steps in this space – closed-loop packaging and innovative new designs aim to reduce packaging waste, while new production processes for glass target a reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. 

Meanwhile, the responsible sourcing of raw ingredients, harnessing renewable energy and cleaner energy to reduce the GHG emissions at production sites, and water replenishment programs are all top of the priority list for spirits manufacturers like Bacardi, a family-owned company which is committed to doing the right thing by people and planet.

“Acting responsibly is not about acting alone. From farmer to blender to bartender, it’s only by working together that we can bring about real change.”

Magaly Feliciano Lozada
Global sustainability director, Bacardi

Read more about Bacardi's commitment to sustainability in the 2024 Bacardi Cocktail Trends Report.