The American dining public is savvier and more demanding than ever before when it comes to their cocktails – which means restaurants must step up their game by providing higher quality alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages than ever before.
Badger Bevs, which markets a popular line of domestically made premium cocktail mixers, has introduced a pair of exciting new flavors — a clear sign that it is upping its game, refining its focus and looking to the future.
In early March, the Ridgefield, CT based company added two new flavors: Sparkling Pink Grapefruit and Ginger Ale.
They join Club Soda, Ginger Beer and Tonic Water, all of which won Gold Medal Awards at the 2023 Denver International Spirits Competition. Offering the highest carbonation levels of any mixer, Badger Bevs complement the highest quality spirits.
“I think we have the portfolio we need, especially with Blood Orange coming out in May,” said Founder David Vogel, who is partnered with the Bishop Family, founders of Sobe Beverages and Blue Buffalo Pet Products.
“That said, we know we need to keep innovating. We have about 10 items in development now, all real unique items, some of which we’ll introduce next year, some of which we’ll introduce the year after. That product development pipeline always has to be full and exciting and interesting. We want to beat the demand, and hopefully exceed the expectations of consumers and bartenders.”
The additions to the portfolio are the result of Vogel’s heightened focus on meeting customers’ expectations.
While Club Soda, Ginger Beer and Tonic Water account for more than 80% of the mixer market space, he reflects, “What we didn’t think about was that these high-end hotels, country clubs and so on are not going to go half Badger Bevs and half some other competitor.
They want to be glued to one brand, which I totally understand. But we didn’t have the Grapefruit and we didn’t have the Ginger Ale, which are really the two missing components. But now, as of March 1, we’ve got what I like to call the starting five, and they’re really exceptional.”
Vogel’s background is in product development, and so as soon as Badger Bevs launched last summer he had already begun development on these and other line extensions. “To me, product development is always at least a year out,” he explained.
“By the time we’re ready for something new we’d better be far along with it. The grapefruit that you will taste in the market today was our 14th iteration. We were sourcing different sources of grapefruit, trying different formulas, different extracts, all these different things. We finally arrived at something all natural, made domestically and local to New York Metro and Pennsylvania, but that has the right flavor profile.”
The stakes are higher than ever, Vogel pointed out, due to the greater expectations among cocktail aficionados. “The bar is getting more attention than it ever did before, and the fine-dining segment has really focused on the cocktails.”