Demand for gluten-free and vegan products is a ‘fad’

A leading drinks analyst has claimed that consumer demand for dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan-friendly products will not be a long-term trend, but a short-lived “fad”.

Spiros Malandrakis, senior analyst at Euromonitor, believes the current dietary-lead trends are not indicative of consumers’ long-term drinking habits, but a short-term phase they will grow out of.

He advised producers to be cautious of creating new line extensions or adjusting existing recipes to fit consumers’ current dietary-restrictive tendencies, which he does not see lasting longer than a couple of years.

“There are a couple of trends now going for a gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan-friendly approach and all that, but I wouldn’t get too excited,” Malandrakis told The Spirits Business.

“I would mostly call it a fad, not a trend, which I can’t see lasting more than a couple of years before consumers will move onto a new fad as they always have.

“I don’t think we’ll see a growth shift in terms of trajectory, but we could see brands embracing the latest trends out there and keeping in contact with their core demographics. But on the other hand I don’t believe this will radically change the landscape [of the industry].”

Several spirit brands have already started catering for consumers’ dietary demands, including drinks giant Diageo.

In June 2016, Diageo unveiled a dairy-free and gluten-free variant of its liqueur brand Baileys – Baileys Almande – made from almond milk, almond essence, cane sugar, purified water and real vanilla.

However, it was later revealed that the expression contained a derivative of beeswax and honey meaning it was not vegan-friendly.

The recipe was tweaked once more to omit these ingredients, and in March this year Baileys Almande was certified vegan in the US.

For a more in-depth look into how dietary-lead trends are shaping the liqueurs category, see the August issue of The Spirits Business magazine – out now.