Why flexible, experience-driven luxury will reshape premium beverages
Download the full What The Future: Indulgence issueHow has an international director of the Michelin Guide (the Oscars of the fine dining world) become a zero-alcohol, sparkling-wine maker? She became pregnant. In 2019, while carrying twins, Maggie Frerejean-Taittinger saw a huge opportunity when she felt excluded from social events because of the lack of premium nonalcoholic options. Together with her champagne-making husband, Rodolphe, and her other co-founder, Constance Jablonski, they launched French Bloom, attracting LVMH’s first strategic investment in the now fast-growing nonalcoholic space.
Kate MacArthur: You’ve been quoted as saying that French Bloom represents the future of the wine world. How so?
Maggie Frerejean-Taittinger: Consumers aren't saying no to alcohol. They're saying not always, not every time. For us, it's about moderation. But when you go between a glass of champagne and a glass of French Bloom, you're able to do so without taking a step down in quality. And you’re able to have that similar experience as everybody else around the table. That's where you're starting to see consumers asking for products that remain premium but also have a high-quality nature in the tasting profile.
MacArthur: What consumption habits are you seeing across demographics?
Frerejean-Taittinger: We estimate about 80% of our customers drink wine and champagne. They consume alcohol. But there are those flexi-drinkers who are looking to generally moderate or reduce their overall consumption of alcohol. It's being led by the younger generations. Our core customers are between ages 25-45. But we all know that Gen Zers are consuming less than my generation, the Millennials, did. There's the alcohol-free pairing now at more and more restaurants, but you also have the rise of what they're calling the moderate pairing or just the pairing.
MacArthur: How are mood-altering options evolving?
Frerejean-Taittinger: Adaptogens or functional drinks are very interesting. It's not a space where we're going. But while drinking French Bloom, I swear, I feel something. It's the placebo effect. And I think you realize that it's not always the alcohol. It's the music, the ambiance, the dark lights, the connecting and speaking with people that actually make you feel up. And the more you do it, the more comfortable you become with it, the more you realize it's not always the alcohol.
MacArthur: How do you maintain a luxury image and experience without the alcohol?
Frerejean-Taittinger: When you drink a fine wine, like a grand cru, you're not doing it to get a buzz. It's about the experience, the pleasure, the complexity. If you were able to have the same pleasure and experience, do you really want that 13% alcohol in the glass of wine?
MacArthur: When luxury beverages don’t have alcohol, should they cost less?
Frerejean-Taittinger: In the past there was this idea that nonalcoholic was a lesser option, and many of those first in the market arrived at super low pricing. Of course, the quality matched it. Now that we're starting to have higher quality wines, you're having a range, just as you would from a sparkling wine perspective.
It’s about the experience, the pleasure, the complexity. If you were able to have the same pleasure and experience, do you really want that 13% alcohol in the glass of wine?”
MacArthur: How do you see this space evolving?
Frerejean-Taittinger: That's the reason I prefer the term flexi-drinking because it's similar to flexitarian. You can compare what we're seeing in the gastronomic world to plant-based and vegetarian options. You would go into a fine restaurant in the ‘90s, and you’d invest for the vegetarian option, and you’d receive a plate of steamed vegetables. Today, a restaurant can't survive and be relevant if you don't have a nonalcoholic option or two that's at that same level of pleasure.
MacArthur: Are social pressures related to alcohol consumption changing?
Frerejean-Taittinger: I'm seeing a huge shift because event organizers or luxury brands are waking up to this realization that a welcome drink needs to be welcoming for everybody. It's not normal to arrive at an event and have a tray of champagne and water. So to be able to have a drink with bubbles in a flute like everybody else, it lays off a little bit of the pressure. But it's still there. In the past, a night off alcohol for a lot of us meant Netflix and chill. But now we realize that we can still go out and have a great time, especially if there are nonalcoholic options. It allows me to feel like I'm a part of the moment and not succumbing to that glass of wine that I don't really want.
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