Word: wined
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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When it comes to alcoholic beverages, U.S. consumers have developed a taste for sweetness and light, and the liquor, wine and beer industries (total 1985 sales: more than $50 billion) are scrambling to satisfy them. The result: a head-spinning array of exotic mixtures, handy packaging and zingy promotion that is challenging many old loyalties. "We are embarking on a flavor explosion in the alcoholic-beverage industry," says Paul Connors, co-founder of a Massachusetts-based beverage-marketing firm called Locon...
...innovations are designed to reverse a sales slump caused by the continuing U.S. trend toward sobriety. The combination of health consciousness, concern about drunk driving and the young-professional work ethic has given the alcoholic-beverage industries their toughest test since Prohibition. Total consumption of beer, wine and liquor, which climbed an average 3.3% a year during 1975-80, rose only .4% last year, according to Impact, a trade publication...
...first many beverage companies were paralyzed by the problem, having successfully produced the same old-favorite brands year after year. Now suddenly the liquor, beer and wine companies seem to have hit on the right formula for keeping their customers in a drinking mood. They have decided to win over the members of the baby-boom generation, who were raised on soda pop and feel no compulsion to acquire a taste for Scotch, with an outpouring of wine and liquor coolers, fruity cordials, sparkling wines and cocktails...
Michael Crete and R. Stuart Bewley, two entrepreneurs in Lodi, Calif., helped get the wave rolling when they invented California Cooler in 1981, taking their recipe from traditional beach-party punches made of white wine, fruit juice and soda. By the time they sold their business last September to Louisville's Brown-Forman distillers for $146 million, more than 75 imitators had appeared on the scene. This year an estimated 70 million cases of wine coolers will be sold, up some 72% from 1985, making a total market of more than $1.2 billion...
...such a cooler splash? Young people appreciate the familiarity of the flavors, ranging from raspberry to chocolate, in contrast to the arcane varieties of table wine. Another attraction is the 5% alcohol content, about half the potency of regular wine. "We're showing people they can still have a good time partying and not get blown away," says Chuck Blank, marketing manager for California Cooler. Yet another selling point is perceived . healthfulness, even though most coolers have as many calories as a similar- size can of regular soda. The beverage appeals particularly to women, who buy about...