The brewing industry continues to experience major shifts. Changing demographics and generational influences are also creating new drink and flavor trends. Just look at Europe’s craft-beer scene, which experienced huge growth—178 percent, according to figures released by Mintel (a London-based market research firm)—with new-product launches more than doubling.
The way consumers purchase beer has also evolved. Today’s mobile-enabled consumers are constantly evaluating and re-evaluating their purchasing decisions. They choose the brands most relevant to them at an increasingly rapid pace. And they pay a premium. Consider how craft has become the “new premium” in beer. Consumers are happy to pay more for smaller-batch, more handcrafted options rather than those that are mass-produced. The consumer desire for new experiences has also led to more new beer styles than ever before.
Technology’s Role
And we are already seeing how new and emerging technology can play a key role in delivering these new experiences. IntelligentX Brewing Company (London) brews four beers: an amber, a golden, a black, and a pale. Each beer is brewed with an algorithm called Automated Brewing Intelligence (ABI) that collects customer feedback through a Facebook Messenger bot. IntelligentX invites consumers to try one of the beers, then provide input on such characteristics as flavor and carbonation levels that is fed into the ABI algorithm to produce a new recipe that has been refined using real-time consumer feedback. The idea is, of course, to improve the recipe from the consumers’ point of view—to customize it, if you will. With or without technology, consumers are coming to expect personalized beverages created just for them—from something as simple as a unique cocktail to a drink custom-made for their individual genetic makeup or adapted to their unique anatomy. And brands will soon be able to go even further and tailor a product or an interaction to an individual’s particular mood. That’s personalization on a whole new level, and it won’t just mean matching beverages with consumers’ tastes, needs, or even their DNA. For brewers, the implications of this form of “precision manufacturing” will take companies far beyond mere supply-chain and fulfillment challenges. Manufacturing itself will need to change dramatically. Expect to see brands increase their ability to make late-stage product adjustments as well as move manufacturing much closer to consumers.