Trends for your terrace 2016

4-3-2016

The meteorological spring has started this week. Here in Amsterdam the weather doesn’t show a sign of it yet, but with a little bit of luck we can enjoy the sunshine on the terraces by the end of the month. What should you serve on your terrace this season? Below you can find a list of products we expect to see on the Dutch terraces. In our first trend presentation this year, about terrace trends, the products below were mentioned.

1. Ice creams – instant or homemade, with or without alcohol. We will see several kinds of ice cream this season. Like BuzzBar ice cream with alcohol that comes in variations as ‘Bourbon St. Chocolate’ & ‘Mojito Madness’. Also ‘Nice op een stokje’ is one of the variations we expect to see often. Ice cream made of fresh organic fruits, sometimes with herbs or tea.

2. Trendy lemonades – this summer we will see lemonades very regularly. Pinkyrose is one of the examples. The lemonade itself comes in a trendy stainless steel bottle. The lemonade isn’t dull because of the bottle’s design. Serve it with a slice of fruit and ice and you have a cheaper and healthier drink instead of sodas.

3. Tap water – it has been on the news regularly last year. Do you serve it for free or ask money for it? In our opinion you may ask money for it, but only if you add something to the product. Like for example a special water menu, with carafes of water with different kinds of fruit and herbs. Besides the lemonades, another cheap and healthy alternative drink for your terrace.

4. Iced teas – nothing is easier than making iced teas. Boil water, brew tea, chill it with a lot of ice cubes and serve it with some mint and a slice of lemon. Inexpensive, refreshing for your guests and unique. Isn’t it a lot nicer to tell your guests how you made the homemade iced tea instead of serving pre-made brands?

5. Iced coffee & coffee cocktails – over the past couple of years we saw several iced variations on coffee, mostly sweet, like the Frappuccino. Why not experiment with it yourself, just as the iced teas. Coffee is a fine base for a homemade cold cocktail or cold served coffee, like Dutch Coffee. We expect that only a small amount of the Dutch people will like these drinks. So if it’s already a trend this year?

6. Beers – craft beers, IPA (Indian Pale Ales) or Weizen. A lot of variations with beer will be seen on terraces. Everywhere small brewery’s pop up with new flavours and variations of beer. The Dutch people want an experience and will be less pleased with a standard Pilsner of one of the big brewery’s. Produce your own beer with local brewery’s, tell your guests at the table how you produced it and what makes this beer so special. Guests like to hear a story, even whilst drinking beer. The downside of the large range of beers is the ‘choosing conflict’ your guests will experience. To the help comes another trend: the flight of beers. You can add a flights of beers to your menu with a permanent range of beers, but you can also give your guests the honour to create a flight with their favourite beers.

7. Wine – we spoke with several big wine suppliers about the wine trends. To the question, what will the wine trends be this summer, we got a unequivocal answer: fresh aromatic wines for lovers of fresh and semi-sweet wines. These are new world Sauvignons from Marlborough, New Zealand and Stellenbosch, South Africa.

8. Cider – another product what you could serve, are the ciders. Not just the standard Jillz variations, but ciders in trendy bottles, like Sassy. Why Ciders? Ciders are fruity, fresh and low in alcohol percentage (between 6% & 8%). The cool bottle makes it look appealing for women and men.

9. Vermouth or gin-tonic – a lot of trend watchers are talking about Vermouth. If you ask them what THE trend on the terraces will be, Vermouth is often mentioned. We expect to see Vermouth at a few hospitality industries only. The average company will probably serve Gin-Tonics this season. Different kinds of gin and tonic’s, like from Fever-tree. More companies will have separated Gin-Tonic menu’s on their terrace.

10. Rio 2016 – the Dutch football team won’t play during the summer. But we do have the Olympic Games in Rio. The terraces won’t colour orange this summer but green & yellow! Take advantage of the games, serve colourful cocktails and dishes like ceviche. Give your own twist to the Olympic Games and your terrace will be the place to be this summer.

Did you apply one of the trends above to your own terrace? Let us know, we like to write about examples in hospitality and surely if we’re the source of inspiration. Bring on spring & summer! ^Bram Kosterink

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