How the Aperol Spritz is shaking up the cocktail industry
Drink of the summer? Drink of the year? This classic cocktail has new fans discovering the “Italian way”
The Aperol Spritz — the sophisticated Italian classic made from Aperol liqueur, prosecco, a splash of soda, and usually garnished with a slice of orange — has seen a recent surge in popularity.
In an alcohol industry dictated by aesthetics and trends almost as much as the fashion industry, is the Aperol Spritz here to stay? We spoke to over 8,000 of our users — or bees — worldwide to find out.
Love it or hate it, the Spritz is finding new fans
Almost 1 in 2 (45%) of our bees across the globe told us they had tried an Aperol Spritz before. Of these, 2 in 3 said they’d tried one for the first time in the last 24 months.
They most often tried one in a bar or pub (45%), but as many as 1 in 5 say they first sampled it at an outdoor or summer event.
When asked to pick their favourite cocktail (from Business Insider’s shortlist of the best selling in 2018), the Aperol Spritz was the world’s second favourite with 12% of the vote, behind the ubiquitous mojito (26%).
However, it also came second among people’s least favourite cocktails too, behind the polarising Bloody Mary, again with 12% of the vote. This is a cocktail with love-hate appeal!
A cocktail for men?
Men love the orange-coloured tipple more than women. The Aperol Spritz is their third favourite cocktail on Business Insider’s shortlist, whereas for women it comes in at fourth, (overall the Spritz remains in 2nd place because of how popular it is for both genders in Europe!)
51% of men say they have tried the Spritz, compared to 40% of women, and 7 in 10 of those men have tried it for the first time in the last 24 months (compared to 6 in 10 women).
But what is it that men find appealing about it? Well, the top three answers for what first attracted them are its colour, it’s fizziness, and “because my friends were trying it”.
And as for why they like and continue to drink it? Quality ingredients and flavour are the top two answers, but while 1 in 4 women like the Spritz’s aesthetics, for a similar number of men (27%) its key attraction is its relatively low price. Men (75%) are also more likely to consider drinking it throughout the year than women (67%).
The Italian way
The Aperol Spritz might be finding new ground and new fans around the world, but it has been a staple on cocktail menus in Italy for years — but the familiarity doesn’t lessen its novelty or popularity.
9 in 10 of our Italian bees say they have tried it and it is by far and away their favourite cocktail with 45% of the vote, ahead of the mojito (26%) and the negroni (5%).
As for its associations, after summer (73%), “the Italian way” is what the Aperol Spritz is most commonly associated with. 77% also agree with the statement that Aperol Spritz “proves Italians do it better”.
But it is not just Italians that think this way — two major demographics of new drinkers are also buying into the “Italian way”, namely Brazilian and Indian men.
For Brazilian men 69% agree with the statement that the Spritz proves “Italians do it better”, while this figure jumps to 86% for Indian men. Along with Italian chic comes an idea of luxury and sophistication — for Brazilian men the second most popular association is sophistication, and for their Indian counterparts, it’s luxury.
These fans are new drinkers too. 74%, or 3 in 4, Brazilian men who drink the Spritz first tried it in the last 24 months, and for Indian men this figure is 4 in 5 (81%).
The Spritz fits
Overall, there is a strong market for simple cocktails like the Aperol Spritz.
The small number of ingredients is most likely why it usually sits among the more affordable cocktails, and while its bold colour is a big draw for aesthetic reasons, for many drinkers — namely men — its low cost is as big, if not a more significant attraction.
A simple cocktail yes, but its associations with luxury, sophistication and Italianness show us that cocktail drinkers still want to feel fancy and imbibe on something special. The Aperol Spritz does just that.
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A quick word on our methodology: The figures in the article are taken from Streetbees community members in UK, US, India, Kenya, the Philippines and South Africa, carried out in August 2018. All of the data was collected by mobile and web surveys, and is accurate to within 4 percentage points 19 times out of 20.
