Food and drink pairing apps ‘crucial tools’

Mobile apps could provide a boost to the alcoholic drinks sector by targeting food pairing suggestions to young adults, researchers have claimed.

Canadean has identified food and drink pairing apps as “crucial tools” to engage younger drinkers

According to analysts at consumer insight firm Canadean, new apps are encouraging consumers to expand beyond wine when pairing food and beverages, looking to categories such as whisky, beer and cocktails.

However, research shows that while 35% of consumers worldwide see food pairing as a “key consideration” when choosing alcoholic drinks, this belief is more prevalent among older drinkers. A total of 43% of those over 55 consider food pairing when purchasing alcohol, but this decreases to 26% for 18-24-year-olds.

As such, Canadean identifies social media and apps as “crucial tools” to encourage younger consumers to “think about food and drink pairing more often”.

“Encouraging young adults to consider pairing alcohol with food will be a crucial way to grow volumes of wine, beer, and even some spirits,” said Ronan Stafford, senior analyst for Canadean.

“Brands need to use highly visual social media platforms, such as Instagram and Snapchat, and even beverage-dedicated apps, to demonstrate to young adults the exciting experiences offered by food and drink pairing.”

He continued: “Forget 140-character Tweets – social media is now a visual medium. This should play into the hands of brands building around food and drink pairing: videos provide appealing ‘hero’ shots of the food and drink, help to explain the pairing thought process, and educate consumers.”

Canadean also recommends that brands use consumer-dedicated apps to encourage pairing or target near-field communication (NFC) and augmented reality, reflecting the recent Pokémon Go craze.

Spirits brands are increasingly using mobile technology in number of creative ways, as this top 10 list of must-have spirits apps shows.