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Specialty Sodas Can Build Sales While Offering New Flavors
More and more operators are finding that specialty sodas add “pop” to their beverage lineup. Whether bottled or house-blended, specialty sodas attract a diverse customer base, particularly families with children, for their distinct flavors and nostalgic appeal. Specialty drinks can also help themed concepts define a sense of place. The drinks allow restaurants to offer myriad flavors, from the traditional to less-familiar flavors like persimmon, rhubarb, kumquat, and juniper berry. 
Chicago-inspired Pie Town Pizza in Henderson, NV, offers a bright-green, lime-flavored fountain soda called Green River that’s brewed in Chicago, as well as a selection of flavors from a small, independent bottler from Chicago’s South Side. Mercadito, a chain of cantinas with locations in Chicago, Miami and New York, serves Mexican-style sodas in ethnic flavors such as tamarind and hibiscus, along with imported Latin versions of big-name cola brands (which are often sweetened with cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup). Saul’s Delicatessen & Restaurant in Berkeley, CA, prepares soft drinks in-house for the flavor as well as to reduce the restaurant’s environmental impact. The deli makes its own house sodas using cane sugar, spices, fresh fruits, and seltzer water.
Whether from an article on building sales with beverages in a recent edition of our Next Course publication or from our Make a Splash Beverage Guide, full of suggested products and recipes, Gordon Food Service is committed to providing relevant and timely information to ensure our customers’ success. For more information, visit the Become a Customer page.
This information is provided by Technomic, considered an industry expert for over 40 years. Information can be segment-specific and it is important that operators understand the segment to which they belong in order to determine how this particular data may or may not impact their own operation.
Source: Technomic, Menu Clips, February 2010
