Ground Signal

In the fight for #OnPremise supremacy, menu placements and features are critical. But knowing which brands are gaining ground—and which are losing share—has never been easier. With our proprietary GS Menu Analytics platform, Ground Signal tracks menu placements across 150,000+ on-premise accounts nationwide, covering both national and independent accounts. Now, we’re launching #MenuWars, a new series that spotlights competitive shifts, category trends, and brand rankings. For our first edition, we’re diving deep into independent accounts in #California, revealing which brands, suppliers (such as Diageo, Bacardi, Suntory Global Spirits, Sazerac Company, Brown-Forman, Proximo Spirits, Constellation Brands, Campari Group, William Grant & Sons, Pernod Ricard, Moët Hennessy, Tito's Handmade Vodka, Rémy Cointreau, Heaven Hill Brands) and distributors (Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits, Republic National Distributing Company, Breakthru Beverage Group, Reyes Beverage Group) are winning the menu battle. Congratulations are in order to the current leaders in the CA #Menuwars Whiskey - Bulleit Diageo Tequila - Patron Bacardi Vodka - Tito's Tito's Handmade Vodka Gin - Hendricks William Grant & Sons Rum - Bacardi Bacardi With GS Menu Analytics, both #suppliers and #distributors can now track #menu trends over time, rank brand performance by category, and make data-driven decisions to win in the #OnPremise. Who’s leading the charge? Who’s falling behind? Download our inaugural #MenuWars and find out now!!

Presenting Our February Deep Dive: 2024 Year in Review 2024 was a challenging year for the #beveragealcohol industry to say the least. Before we can move forward in to 2025 it is important to understand what trends drove performance in the #OnPremise. In our 2024 Year in Review, we look at how brands performed through the following lenses: #Chains vs #Independent Accounts, #PriceTier, #Category and we use our proprietary KTC segmentation to see how popular combinations of venue profile and consumer experience influenced sales performance. We hope that this report will help as you set strategies and manage your business in 2025!

#Drinkspecials are anticipated to remain a significant factor impacting #OnPremise #BeverageAlcohol consumption in 2025. In normal environments, drink specials are an effective strategy for #venues to attract customers during less busy periods, helping to offset fixed costs. Recently challenges such as high inflation and economic uncertainty, have shifted consumer behavior - particularly around seeking out potential deals. So Read on for three quick insights that provide more context around popular drink specials in the On-Premise, or download our insight sheet for a comprehensive view. 1. While the #Mimosa is far and away the drink most mentioned in conjunction with Drink Specials (think Bottomless Brunch), the #LemonDrop is trending with its popularity growing by over +400% since 2021 2. While #Brunch remains the most common Occasion mentioned with Drink Specials, its overall share of occasions has decreased over the last two years, and we are seeing other occasions such as #HappyHour and #LateNight trending. 3. Average #Vodka Velocities in Premium/Fine Dining #Italian Restaurants known for drink specials have been roughly 20-25% higher than their benchmark over the last three years As always feel free to visit our blog the Handshake. for more #AI powered On-Premise #consumer insights https://lnkd.in/eV6zrA3h

Premium/Fine Dining Steak Chain Restaurants are a #highvalue, #highimpact space within #national accounts —but do you know what drives #consumers beverage choices? In our latest Deep Dive we explore: 👥 Consumer Overview – Customer demographics and spirit affinities. 🍽️ Venue Experience – Reasons for visiting and key aspects of the venue experience 📜 Menu Dynamics – Top #cocktails and #spirits brands featured on menus. 🥃 Spirits Performance – How key #alcohol categories perform relative to industry benchmarks. Plus, we provide a snapshot of the 10 largest Premium/Fine Dining Steak Chains, helping #suppliers and #brands navigate opportunities in this valuable channel. #DataDriven #BeverageAlcohol #FineDining

While knowing which #consumers are drinking, where they are frequenting and what else they are doing while in the #OnPremise - one of the key questions that Ground Signal can help answer is #why the consumer made the choice to go out in the first place. This week we look at the fifth most popular occasions for attending an On-Premise venue in 2024, #travel. Whether for work, to take a break from work, or with friends and family read on for 3 quick insights into #beveragealcohol consumption by Travelers or download our insight sheet for a more in-depth analysis. 1. While Tiki drinks and the Mai Tai are the most frequently mentioned cocktail in the On-Premise for consumers who are travelling / on vacation, the Caipirinha is the fastest growing with its popularity more than doubling since 2021 2. While Tequila is the most popular spirits category among travelers, both Gin and Vodka have been trending in recent years. Unsurprisingly Gin and Vodka velocities at accounts popular among travelers are significantly higher than their national averages. 3. While Sports is the most popular occasion mentioned by travelers in On-Premise venues, Bachelorette Parties have been trending with their popularity among travelers increasing by +230% since 2021 As always you can visit our blog #TheHandshake. at https://lnkd.in/ecJ9saVG for more #AI powered insights that can help you grow your business!

In this week's edition of #TheHandshake. we are going to focus on consumer behavior in one of Ground Signal's Key Trade Channels (#KTC). If you need a quick refresher, our proprietary KTCs go beyond traditional trade channel classifications, offering a deeper segmentation of accounts based not only on venue type (like bars or restaurants) but also on #consumer behavior and #demographics (such as high-energy, multicultural or cocktail-focused). This week, we explore one of our larger (by number of accounts) KTCs—Caucasian Bars & Nightlife. So read on for three quick insights or download our fact sheet for a more comprehensive analysis! 1. While #Tiki drinks and #Shots are the most frequently mentioned cocktails in Caucasian Bars and Nightlife, their popularity has plateaued. The top trending cocktail is the #lemondrop with its popularity increasing by +65% since 2021 2. #Whiskey and #Tequila are the most mentioned spirits categories at Caucasian Bars and Nightlife venues. The relative popularity of major spirits categories has stayed consistent over the last several years 3. While #partying remains the most popular occasion in Caucasian Bar & Nightlife venues, the popularity of #Trivia has increased by +36% As always feel free to visit our blog for more #OnPremise consumer #insights https://lnkd.in/ecJ9saVG

In an industry that has always had an element of #IYKYK, one venue profile that stands out in this regard is is the #Speakeasy.  Despite some decrease in its popularity growth, the Speakeasy is still the fourth fastest growing environment over the last 3 years according to Ground Signal data. So read on for three quick insights into the trends that are best resonating with Speakeasy consumers or download our factsheet for a more comprehensive look! As always for more #AI-Powered On-Premise #BevAlc consumer #insights you can visit our blog at https://lnkd.in/ecJ9saVG 1. Old standbys such as the #Martini and the #OldFashioned are some of the most popular cocktails at speakeasies, the #PimmsCup has seen its popularity grow by almost tenfold! 2. #Espresso is hands down the most mentioned flavor by consumers in speakeasies, the popularity of #cucumber flavors has grown by +277% 3. According to Ground Signal's depletion benchmarks, per placement #Rum velocities are highest in venues known for their speakeasy environments, however #Mezcal performs very well with the average mezcal velocity at almost 2.25x its national benchmark!

Happy New Year from the Ground Signal team. We hope that you have all recovered from your New Year's celebrations - and are ready to hit the ground running in 2025! To that end we wanted to continue with our weekly look into trends in the #OnPremise by digging in to a relatively recent addition to the cocktail universe - The #PaperPlane 1. Consumers are most likely to mention #HappyHour in conjunction with drinking Paper Planes. #Anniversaries are the fastest growing occasion for Paper Plane consumption with their popularity increasing by +147% 2. #LiveMusic and #FineDining are the top environments for Paper Plane consumption. We have also seen a trend of Paper Plane consumption in environments also known for #dancing - with their share of Paper Plane mentions increasing by +444% since 2021 3. According to Ground Signal’s depletion benchmarks, Premium #Bourbon sales in accounts most known for offering the Paper Plane are +2.9x the national average As always you can visit our blog #TheHandshake. at https://lnkd.in/ecJ9saVG for #AI powered insights or download the attached factsheet for more info!

Happy New Year from the Ground Signal team. We hope that you have all recovered from your New Year's celebrations - and are ready to hit the ground running in 2025! To that end we wanted to continue with our weekly look in to trends in the #OnPremise by digging in to a relatively recent addition to the cocktail universe - The #PaperPlane 1. Consumers are most likely to mention #HappyHour in conjunction with drinking Paper Planes. #Anniversaries are the fastest growing occasion for Paper Plane consumption with their popularity increasing by +147% 2. #LiveMusic and #FineDining are the top environments for Paper Plane consumption. We have also seen a trend of Paper Plane consumption in environments also known for #dancing - with their share of Paper Plane mentions increasing by +444% since 2021 3. According to Ground Signal’s depletion benchmarks, Premium #Bourbon sales in accounts most known for offering the Paper Plane are +2.9x the national average As always you can visit our blog #TheHandshake. at https://lnkd.in/ecJ9saVG for #AI powered insights or download the attached factsheet for more info!

As the year draws to a close, #DryJanuary is right around the corner. One key aspect of this emerging trend is the increase in popularity of #Mocktails - particularly among health conscious, younger consumers. Contrary to popular belief, these consumers are not turning fully to abstinence but rather are looking to modify their consumptive patterns to mitigate the harmful effects of overindulgence. Rather than viewing this trend as a threat - we think this is an opportunity, particularly in the #OnPremise, where brands can gain an advantage in this newly emerging category. In this month's deep dive, the Ground Signal team takes a closer look at Mocktail consumption, providing visibility into top consumer information, what settings and environments are most popular for drinking Mocktails, the types of accounts where Mocktails are most popular and finally looking at how Mocktails are featured on Menu at top accounts!