Changing habits around drinking have shifted a large chunk of consumer’s focus towards the best and the worst that the non-alcoholic category has to offer. The obvious, mundane post mix syrups or the confusion of labels stuffed in the back bar fridges (many of which can also be seen on the supermarket shelves as part of a meal deal) are not exactly exciting. Just because customers are not drinking should not mean that their experience is any less fulfilling. Catherine Salway’s alcohol-free gastrobar concept, Redemption is testament to this with their ‘spoil yourself without spoiling yourself’ theme and glamorous offerings.
The Redemption concept is premium and impressive but not necessarily easy to manage or scale for many operators, particularly when the hospitality industry has one of the lowest staff retention rates of just 70% compared to the national average of 85%.
The answer is what Brewfitt’s revolutionary Mr Fitz Aqua Spritz brand would term ‘Simplexity’ that is a drink that is simple to make but has a complex look, feel and taste. Their range of over 25 botanically infused flavours mean serving a Lemon, Yuzu and Turmeric Spritz or a Sarsaparilla Pear Sling could not be easier.
‘We can learn a lot from the successes of the gin craze’ says Mark Fenton, Head of Brands for Mr Fitz Aqua Spritz. ‘ Keep the serve routine a simple one and yet deliver great tasting drinks that consumers feel sophisticated with and are prepared to pay a premium for’
The Mr Fitz Aqua Spritz concept was launched exclusively to the on-trade last year. It is designed to give operators a solution for all their premium non-alcoholic drinks and water dispense that will drive revenues and yet reduce operational costs with it’s easy to use service formula.
‘Training is a very costly overhead for any operator and so we’ve designed the process of delivering our drinks to be incredibly simple’ said Fenton. ‘We have devised a serve routine called ‘The Drill’ which is made up of three easy steps to make serving each of our flavours easy to train. Actually, staff seem to prefer making drinks in this way at the Mr Fitz font rather than glugging out something from a bottle in the fridge, and customers definitely now feel more special when they see their drink being made up. It is perhaps why we regularly see upwards of 85% gross profit per serve being achieved by our customers’
