5 On-Premise Tactics for Thriving During Volatility

Charlie Mitchell (00:04) First up, who am I? I’m from a company called Wilde Toast. Some of you may know us as excellent drinks brand activation leaders. We are increasingly bringing intelligence from the on-trade into our strategy and thinking. We are gathering bartender opinions and getting on-the-ground perspectives of what the latest trends are and how things are moving. During these volatile times, that is really, really important.

Charlie Mitchell (00:31) We have a panel of amazing bartenders who feed in their perspectives on what they see daily regarding on-the-ground consumer behavior. We speak to everybody in the sector, going out there to observe consumer behavior as it happens. A lot of research in the on-trade tends to happen after people have done something, or based on what they say they’ve done. We actually go in and see what is physically happening, which allows us to provide real industry commentary—which is what I’m going to do today.

Charlie Mitchell (01:00) How do we thrive? First of all, the volatility we’re experiencing at the moment is not new. Some of you may have heard of the term VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity). It’s a concept I think the US Army coined just after the Cold War.

Charlie Mitchell (01:26) The world has been volatile and unpredictable for a good 30 years now. For those of you in this room who are still managing to do business in this sector after the massive events we’ve faced—tariffs, pandemics, and global conflicts—if you’re still standing, then well done. The real point here is that this volatility isn’t going anywhere. We’re not going to just “ride it out.” We have to figure out a way to survive and thrive within it, and obviously, that has a direct effect on hospitality.

Charlie Mitchell (01:52) These are busy graphs on the slide. What they show is a survey of business leaders in the UK whom we track. We ask them, “How optimistic are you about your business given the realities you’re facing at the moment? What do you think about the market in general?”

Charlie Mitchell (02:18) Without looking at the specific data points here, you can see that optimism is wildly volatile. Macro events have a massive impact on how people are able to run businesses in hospitality. Again, this isn’t a new thing; it’s about how we survive and thrive within that reality. But the one thing that everybody in this hall and this sector is great at is turning lemons into limoncello and other great drinks. (A personal favorite of mine at the moment is the Radler, which is my next tip for the next big drink trend!)

Charlie Mitchell (02:48) How are we going to do that? I’ve got five thoughts on how we can thrive during this time of volatility, and I’ll take you through each one in detail.

The first thought—and I think this is critically important—is that we often see companies in the drinks sector wildly change their long-term ambitions when market pressures hit. To an extent, when things are volatile, you certainly need to adapt your tactics. However, the brands that do super well are the ones that stick to a guiding principle, stick to their North Star, and focus on what they are genuinely good at.

Charlie Mitchell (03:45) As a bit of a spoiler alert here: I wasn’t originally meant to be here today. The CEO of De Kuyper was meant to be speaking instead of me, so my apologies about that! But I spoke to them recently and asked, “How do you keep on doing what you’re doing so successfully?”

If you don’t know De Kuyper, they make fantastic cocktail liqueurs. Historically, they used to sell a broad portfolio of a million different things, including tuna! What they quickly discovered—and what they have built a successful modern strategy around—is to just do what they do well. They chose to own the cocktail space and ensure everything leaving their factory has quality credentials.

Charlie Mitchell (04:14) Miriam Hendricks, pictured there on the screen, tests every single batch that goes out of the factory. They make sure that is what they are famous for, what they are known for, and they do it exceptionally well. Having that strategy allows them to be laser-focused. They can adapt and be nimble, but everything they do is anchored by that big core principle.

Look at Rémy Cointreau as another example. It’s been a tough market lately. Any cognac producer trying to sell into China and the US is facing steep struggles due to the volatile trade environments. But what’s interesting is that they have stuck true to their core mission. They’ve adapted a couple of their tactics, but they are not wavering from their primary statement: to become the world leader in exceptional spirits. Be agile, but stick to your big principles.

Charlie Mitchell (05:12) The next example links directly to this: Campari. What are they famously well-known for? Building brands through powerful activation. Over the past year in particular, they have doubled down on their best bets. They’ve ensured their portfolio is absolutely spot-on for this economic environment, and they’ve gone big on their core assets. Make sure you are playing where you have the right to win.

That activation point is a major way to thrive in this environment. From a consumer perspective, the outside world can feel like a scary place right now. We need to give consumers a compelling reason to come out into hospitality by delivering experiences that deeply connect them with our brands. The bartender is critical in this equation.

Charlie Mitchell (06:10) The person standing between our brands and our consumers is the one who creates those unforgettable experiences and memories. When we execute venue activations exceptionally well, it creates a triple—or even quadruple—win.

First, the venue benefits through increased footfall, pulling satisfied guests through the door who will repeat that visit. Second, the consumers benefit because they get the genuine, memorable experiences they are looking for. Finally, you guys—the brands—win because you are delivering moments that consumers will remember and advocate for.

Charlie Mitchell (06:40) Oftentimes, when companies talk about activation, it’s entirely self-centric around the brand. Quite rightly, you’re looking to deliver a return for your business. However, we run a bartender study every year, and we explicitly ask bartenders, “What do you actually want from brand activations?”

Number one, they say it has to be all about the guest experience. But number two, they want us to consider the floor staff. We need to ensure that our investment pays back not only for the brand and the venue, but directly supports the staff on the ground. It is really important to think about that dynamic.

Charlie Mitchell (07:39) The next tactic is making sure that while we maintain that guiding North Star, we also adapt fluidly to changing consumer needs. We must track the trends and ensure our strategy takes them into account.

The no-and-low alcohol sector is a perfect example. A common myth in the industry is that the people buying non-alcoholic products are strictly teetotalers. That isn’t actually the case; only about one in 20 people who buy non-alcoholic products don’t drink alcohol at all.

Charlie Mitchell (08:07) Where we are seeing a lot more interesting innovation is around lower alcohol serves—zebra drinking, split serves, or products like the “60-40 Guinness” that some of you might have seen (60% full Guinness, 40% Guinness 0.0). These types of serves are starting to develop and become a lot more common. We need to think about our serve strategies and product development to ensure they adapt to these moderating trends.

We are also seeing a massive push when it comes to flavor innovation. My challenge to our sector is that a lot of this flavor innovation is currently being driven by beer suppliers, rather than spirits.

Charlie Mitchell (09:04) With the rise of RTDs (ready-to-drink), there’s a real potential that these flavor-forward innovations from beer suppliers might start stealing our lunch. As you can see from this bartender quote on the screen when we asked about the big trend this year: it’s all about flavor.

De Kuyper sums up this mindset perfectly with their ready-to-serve Passion Fruit Martini. They make sure the quality is strictly credible, but it allows them to be in more places with more consumers, ensuring there is a cocktail option for every occasion. They even serve it as a 0.0% ABV option on draft, helping bartenders speed up service while staying true to their core principles.

Charlie Mitchell (10:02) My fourth point is that I see a lot of brands jump to the next geographical or category opportunity way too quickly, before they’ve actually secured their home territory. The brands that have done best in the market over the past five years have completely owned their heartland first before expanding.

Aperol is a classic example. They completely owned the aperitivo moment in Italy first. They became universally famous for that specific occasion at home, and only then did they replicate that playbook in international markets.

Charlie Mitchell (10:30) Similarly, Batič is doing a very similar thing by owning the “Yellow Hour” sundowner occasion, doing it exceptionally well, and expanding afterward.

BuzzBalls is another great example: they put convenience first. There is a lot of corporate talk about functional drinks at the moment, but I actually think the most successful functional drink on the market right now is BuzzBalls. For a lot of consumers, the “function” they want is convenience, a high ABV, ease of drinking, and great flavor. They owned that convenience heartland first before scaling up.

Charlie Mitchell (11:00) Finally, Bumbu Rum is a really interesting example. They found a non-obvious heartland by going incredibly big in late-night venues across Eastern Europe. It’s not necessarily where you’d expect a rum brand to dominate, but they activated intensely, won that specific footprint, and expanded accordingly.

Charlie Mitchell (11:27) Last but not least, we must double down on hospitality. Consumers are actively looking for a sensory break from the pressures of the outside world, and we’re seeing that directly reflected in the types of venues opening up today—like intimate listening bars and small-capacity venues. They are literally shutting the outside noise off and giving consumers a beautiful reason to visit.

I think it’s fascinating that these spaces are emerging as a direct counter-response to a volatile world. Therefore, venues and brands need to put hospitality first, ensuring everything we do centers around great guest experiences that build long-term retention.

Charlie Mitchell (12:24) To summarize how to ensure we are thriving in a volatile world:

• Stick to your North Star: Make disciplined, principled decisions ensuring everything you do reflects your core strategic ambition.

• Unlock the triple win: Invest heavily in consumer brand experiences. Now is not the time to batten down the hatches and pull back marketing spend; now is the time to go bigger on the things that make you famous.

• Refine your proposition: Ensure your liquid and serve strategies adapt to shifting consumer demands.

• Own your heartland: Focus on where you have an authentic right to win, win there first, and then expand.

• Build brands in bars: That is exactly where brand love is born, and where the action happens.

And a final, shameless plug: that is exactly where Wilde Toast can help you. With that, I will pass the microphone over. Thank you very much.