LSN : Daily Signals : Need to Know 16 : 04 : 18

1. Hakkasan crafts an alcohol-free cocktail menu

The Orchard List, Hakkasan, London

The Orchard List by Hakkasan, London

The Orchard List, Hakkasan, London

London – The Hakkasan group, best known for its Michelin star Cantonese cuisine, has announced the release of an alcohol-free drinks menu featuring Mai-Shin, a non-alcoholic rice-based drink, similar to sake.

Crafted exclusively for its London restaurants, the menu, called The Orchard List, offers a variety of Asian-inspired refreshments. It includes Honey Jun, a kombucha tea cultured with honey and Ogam Bottled Water, a wood-infused water. The list draws particular attention to a new drinks category, Mai-Shin, which is a rice and tea infusion inspired by the sake brewing process. The restaurant has created two flavours of Mai-Shin: Sukkiri, which has notes of pear and apple blossom, and Mattari, which is creamier in flavour.

‘The Orchard List project has been an opportunity to break down the notion that premium is only tied to alcoholic drinks. This should be extended to other drinks options for guests to enjoy while dining,’ says Christine Parkinson, head of wine at the Hakkasan Group.

Given consumers’ increased concern in relation to their alcohol intake, the menu aims to cater for a culture that is embracing the low- and no-alcohol offerings.

2. The Standard brings CBD-infused products to its hotel rooms

The Standard, New York

New York – Fuelled by the growth of Cannabusiness and a rising interest in non-psychoactive cannabidiol, The Standard has joined forces with Lord Jones to bring a variety of hemp-derived products to the hospitality landscape.

The hotel will offer its guests a selection of products with medicinal and therapeutic properties, including CBD oil-infused gumdrops and pain relief lotions. From April 2018, they will be available in mini-bars of the hotel’s Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles locations, with plans to introduce them to other nationwide locations shortly thereafter.

The Hollywood location will also feature a Lord Jones retail flagship store on the ground floor, extending its offering to the local community. The addition of Lord Jones to the mini-bar highlights another way in which companies may have to branch out in order to modernise room service.

3. Slerp offers restaurants a taste of autonomy

US – Slerp is a new software plug-in that enables restaurants to compete on a more level playing field with technology brands such as Deliveroo, Amazon Restaurants and Uber Eats.

Established by JP Then, co-founder of Crosstown Doughnuts, the business-to-business (B2B) add-on can be incorporated into a restaurateur’s existing website to display live stock levels and facilitate the receiving and execution of orders. To use the service businesses pay a monthly subscription of £39 ($55.60, €45.15) and 7.5% commission on the value of each order. By comparison, Deliveroo charges restaurants about 30% per order.

In addition to empowering restaurants, Slerp is also taking a civic-minded approach in helping grow third-party companies such as courier brand Stuart, which will provide its delivery options. Since 2016, LS:N Global has been tracking the growing backlash against sharing economy brands, as consumers become increasingly aware of the adverse effects that this business model can have on the local community.

Ando delivery-only restaurant

4. Sandows launches a cold brew soda

Sandows, UK

London – The cold brew start-up is expanding its offering with two new coffee-based flavoured sodas – a first for the UK market.

The sparkling cold brew comes in two flavours: Citrus and Spice. The Spice choice combines ginger, orange blossom and black spice while the Citrus is flavoured with lemon and lime.

Both drinks fall below the sugar tax band, suggesting it is a healthier alternative to energy and traditional soft drinks. ‘Cold brew doesn’t need to be a breakfast drink,’ explains Hugh Duffie, co-founder of Sandows. ‘We are looking to position the new sodas alongside their functional competitors, such as Coca-Cola and Red Bull, rather than alongside iced coffee brands, with the aim for it to become an everyday staple.’

For more on how consumers are seeking alternatives to sugar-laden drink options, read here.

5. Chinese consumers blame bad skin on lifestyle

New research by Mintel suggests that although Chinese consumers are blaming their lifestyles, 77% are also willing to change them in order to avoid poor skin conditions.

The findings also indicate that consumers believe some factors are out of their control, with 45% blaming environmental pollution for their skin’s health. With little knowledge of dermocosmetics, only 38% of Chinese consumers are aware of the specially designed products available to manage specific skin issues. Despite this, the study demonstrates the rise in consumers’ sensitivity around their skin as they become more aware of the effects of toxins and irritants.

6. Thought-starter: Is feminism fit for the future?

In 2017, the Merriam-Webster dictionary named ‘feminism’ its word of the year. Why then, asks strategic researcher Victoria Buchanan, are women struggling to identify with the term?

Last week, during a panel that explored the changing face of feminism, journalist Ella Whelan announced ‘I’m not a feminist’ to a room full of shocked women. But Whelan isn’t the only one having a problem identifying with the movement. According to Mintel, just 29% of UK women describe themselves as feminists. Almost half of all women agree that it’s too difficult to understand what being a feminist means.

‘Feminism is now a rich woman’s game, in which celebrities, commentators and politicians wax lyrical about the patriarchy to the sound of applause from Twitter and call it progress,’ argued Wheelan.

After Wheelan’s talk, I realised that we are so busy fighting among ourselves (in our female-only echo chambers) that we aren’t stopping to create a vision for what comes next. Her point about feminism being ‘a rich woman’s game’ draws attention to the fact that we all access feminism from a different starting point, across a spectrum of needs.

If feminism is going to accomplish anything we need to build an intersectional approach that everyone feels a part of.

Read the full Opinion here.