Beverage Trends for Hotel Banquets

Following hotel banquet beverage trends helps management enhance the guest experience and adapt to hospitality industry shifts. While they may notice unsightly trends like beverage shrinkage in beverage inventory technology data, noticing is the first step to improve banquet beverage programs.

Making changes can show customers you prioritize their health, you value sustainability, and want to promote thoughtful engagement. Guests talk about unique, appealing drinks they can't find elsewhere. They notice when hotels are keeping up with their tastes and remaining relevant. And, the modern guest expect to see themselves reflected in the beverage inventory, hotel banquets, and every purchasing opportunity.

Follow the eight beverage trends for hotel banquets and their inventory programs below. You'll learn where gaps and opportunities may exist for the hotel brand you serve.

Key Takeaway: Beverage trends show where a hotel banquet has adapted or fallen behind, reflecting how closely they're concerned with the modern patron.

Embracing New Flavors

Partnerships with local businesses and breweries continue to create community at hotel banquets. By bringing in local ingredients and goods, banquets can communicate authenticity. When each drink comes with a story, sales and satisfaction see a spike.

These new flavors may also be broader than local. Some hotels add a special twist to classic cocktails using regional wine trends or rare varieties of wine and spirits. And, if a hotel banquet does both, they can pair special drinks with local food for a cohesive, conscious experience.

Farm-Fresh Drinks

While some hotel banquets explore new takes on cocktail classics, others may also prefer a subtler approach: using fresh, seasonal ingredients from local suppliers in already-perfected recipes. This trend encouraged slight shifts in restaurant inventory and beverage menus to meet seasonal interests and available ingredients.

For instance, food and beverage inventory may feature light, citrusy summer or spring drinks, cider in fall, and peppermint or chocolate drink recipes in winter months. This helps hotel inventory benefit from the trend of specialized, rotating menu, which serves guest preferences as they shift with the time of year.

Healthy Beverage Trends

In past decades, bartenders and beverage programs may have avoided a concern with health. But, today's customers seek natural sweeteners (such as honey or agave) and superfoods (like acai berries or chia seeds). Using ingredients with health benefits turns out to work well for optimizing spend.

In addition to healthy ingredients, hotels banquet beverage inventories include many low-calorie options. Without compromising on the flavor of drinks, hotel staff and hotel banquet management experiment with new ways of slimming down calorie-heavy recipes for broader appeal.

Zero-Proof Cocktails

As health becomes a larger priority, so does sobriety. Beverage trends at hotel banquets point to the need for more mocktail drinks mimicking alcoholic favorites without the impairment. At the same time, hospitality businesses offer no-alcohol beer and wine.

With infused drinks of fresh fruits, herbs, and exotic spices increase in popularity, it seems guests are perfectly capable of enjoying events without alcohol. Guests may even engage more when hotels have stations to customize drinks (with or without alcohol) from a spread of fresh-cut garnishes and diverse mixers.

Eco-Friendly Packaging

Glassware has probably always been preferred to single-use plastics, but now there are more reasons to think about reducing waste. Customers are noticing switches to compostable straws, plant-based packaging, and the ways in which a hotel meets the mark of sustainability.

Having clear recycling options for hotel guests promotes sustainability and shows care for the environment. This continues and expands the local and regional ingredient trend, showing how the hospitality industry can combine the flavorful and responsible.

BYOB Water Stations

In some cases, hotel banquet beverage trends can be simple to adapt to and incorporate. Some hotels provide many, branded water stations to showcase a support for health and sustainability. They make these "hydration stations" easy-to-spot and accessible throughout event spaces.

An important concern for customers is also the source or filtration of the water. Just like customers and guests who want to know the story of their cocktail's ingredients or a food's local source, patrons can experience more value from events when they feel acknowledge by something as seemingly small as water on tap.

Creative Presentation Techniques

Unique glassware, drink layering, and edible flowers are all part of a trend that wants to diversify and uplift presentation. This is also part of the reason that hotels are more open to alternative serving methods, such as mason jars, hollowed fruit, and highly ornate serving pitchers.

Glasses can feature a theme, hotel branding, or creative designs that function across events. Drinks are garnished with greater appeal through beautiful, edible flowers. The drinks themselves can offer beauty and satisfaction by considering pouring techniques to create colors, textures, and a visual treat.

Time-Themed Drinks

For years, hotels and hospitality brands have used holidays to capture a festive, limited-time burst of sales. Many offer eggnog and themed, Halloween drink recipes. But, more and more banquet staff and servers are dialing up the sophistication of their custom drinks, event by event.

For sporting seasons and cultural festivities, hotels can design drinks. These beverages sometimes celebrate traditional cocktails with a special twist for the occasion or banquet theme. Even regional calendars are fair game as drinks inspired by city, state, or national anniversaries start to appear.

Frequently Asked Questions About Beverage Trends for Hotel Banquets

To help hotel banquet operations and their banquet managers navigate an evolving landscape of beverage trends, get answers to the most common questions about beverage trends.

You'll see reasons to embrace local, natural flavors as well as the growing interest in sustainable drinks and practices. Use these insights to stay ahead of competition and understand modern guests more deeply.

Why are beverage trends important for hotel banquets?

Hotel banquet beverage trends teach hoteliers how to stay relevant, interesting, and appealing for today's guests. Staying in the know and adapting with the crowd can differentiate a brand from competition, allowing loyalty and interest to bloom.

Brands that become more aware (of health, environment, customers, or trends) can more easily promote event attendance. Clients are interested in businesses that share their standards and preferences.

What benefits do local, seasonal ingredients have for hotels and bars?

Today's customers are looking for authenticity and excitement from their favorite brands, and businesses that support local farms or artisans are more likely to look appealing.

On one hand, local, seasonal ingredients lower the environment harm of placing orders from distant suppliers. Instead, they can promote the narrative of their drinks' origins and give guests more unique, hand-crafted experiences.

At the same time, local ingredients chosen with an appropriate annual timing means a fresher, more enjoyed taste profile. Guests will appreciate hospitality brands that keep quality in their flavors.

How can hotels use sustainability in beverage service?

Whether you switch to plant-based products or start changing your suppliers, it's important to educate guests about your sustainability practices.

Some hotels use eco-friendly containers and water stations to promote the value of environmental concern. But, those that choose local ingredients already have this advantage since customers know sourcing within the region leads to a lower carbon footprint.

Either way, patrons want to know about your recycling programs, commitment to lowering single-use plastics, and overall participation in conserving the planet's resources.

What are popular non-alcoholic drink options?

Mocktails and zero-proof drink recipes are growing as a health trend among customers. Naturally, these guests are looking for healthier choices such as kombucha, infused water, and specialty teas.

Non-alcoholic recipes avoiding all types of alcohol can cater to a health-forward beverage experience with antioxidants, fresh ingredients, and nutritional awareness. These beverages can still command the hotel's usual price when they use sophisticated ingredients and techniques to create them.