Petra Lassahn, Director of Bar Convent Berlin on new trends this year

This year spiritshunters.com is excited to be partnering up with Bar Convent Berlin, the world’s largest trade fair for the bar and beverage industry!

We see a strong shift in the scene towards sustainable products and alternatives. Very exciting in terms of packaging is certainly ecoSPIRITS,” Petra Lassahn, Director of Bar Convent Berlin (BCB). Discover more about this year’s fair in our interview below.

Photo courtesy of BCB

 

Spirits Hunters: What are you expecting as new trends this year at Bar Convent Berlin? New products? New Spirits? New Bottle / Packaging Designs?

We see a strong shift in the scene towards sustainable products and alternatives. Very exciting in terms of packaging is certainly ecoSPIRITS, which offers a circular solution compared to conventional disposable glass bottle packaging. At Bar Convent Berlin they will present to our visitors the use and application of a full ecoPLANT™ (a containerized, semi-automated spirits processing facility) – for the first time at a trade show anywhere in the world.

Furthermore, Aperitivo has been around for a while but is also an emerging trend in the bar scene. This year Bar Convent Berlin wants to highlight the importance of the aperitivo culture with a pop-up bar. Here visitors can taste different products in a unique atmosphere and experience the special Aperitivo feeling.

 

Spirits Hunters: Can we expect a few well-known stars in the spirits industry? Which ones?

This year again, we have a diverse and exciting stage program such as Iain Bell who will give a talk on Health and Nutrition as well as the Pinnacle Guide Founders who have a slot on “Judging Bars”. In addition, Max Venning from “Three Sheets” in London will talk about Low-Cost Techniques and Jean Trinh from the Columbian bar Alquimico will give us insights on the concept “From the Bar to the Farm”. Beyond that Danil Nevsky, Philip Duff, and many more will be part of our speaker’s program.

Further guests coming to Bar Convent Berlin for our guests’ shifts are:

  • GN Chan; Ben Yarrow from Double Chicken Please, USA
  • Jesse Vida from Cat Bite, Singapore
  • Alex Francis, Barney O’Kane; Thimotée Pranger from Little Red Door, France
  • Jean Trinh, Irene Diaz, Paola Oviedo Gutierrez from Alquimico, Columbia
  • Zana Möhlmann & Angelos Oikonomou from Super Lyan, Amsterdam
  • Iain McPherson from Panda & Sons, Edinburgh
  • Jeffrey Morgenthaler from Pacific Standard, Portland

 

Spirits Hunters: Which hotspots and highlights would you recommend to visitors?

This year’s Bar Convent Berlin has some exciting hotspots & highlights in store for visitors:

First, the Young Guns Area is the perfect starting point for discovering new trends in the market, where concentrated innovation and creativity of young international brands can be found on one stand. From mixed drinks to hard seltzer and various spirits (with and without alcohol), there is a lot to discover there. You can find an overview of the brands here: Here’s to a new one: The Young Guns are back! (barconvent.com)

Another recommendation this year, BCB visitors should take a closer look at, is the secret Speakeasy Bar, which has to be found on the exhibition grounds.

To highlight the importance of the aperitivo culture, you can find Aperitivo Feeling in the middle of the exhibition hall: The bar team of “14 De La Rosa” from Barcelona will mix specially created recipes in an aperitivo bar. The bar replica of the hotspot is based on the real trend bar in Barcelona.

On the education side, diverse education programs are proposed: In five stages, visitors can listen to lectures by international speakers and participate in exciting workshops.

Then, our BCB guest shifts from top-class international bar teams will once again attract some night owls to the hottest bars in the German capital.

 

Spirits Hunters: Can you tell us more about this year’s country of honor?

In the pavilion of this year’s country of honor, Denmark in Hall 18, some of the best and most innovative Danish products will be presented and the special “hygge feeling” can be experienced.

Spirits Hunters: And what else can we discover at Hall 18?

The Urban Gardening Area in Hall 18 clearly focuses on imparting knowledge on the subject of herbs. Here our visitors can learn more about plants and herbology. On top of that, there will be a presentation on the basics of rotary evaporators, whose functions will be explained in more detail in a workshop.

 

Spirits Hunters: What is the philosophy of BCB?

Bar Convent Berlin is the world’s largest trade fair for the bar and beverage industry and brings together the international bar industry from around 80 countries every year. Bar Convent Berlin is therefore called “Bartender’s Christmas” and is considered the annual “class reunion” of the scene, so to speak. The unique exchange and making of new contacts offer visitors great added value.

Our goal of BCB is to bring together the right people around the premium bar industry, always bringing out novelties and trends, and new ideas.

BCB also has a very strong focus on the aspect of education and offers both exciting talks by experts and instructive workshops about bar craft on various stages.

In addition, BCB is simply a world of experience in which visitors can immerse themselves for three days. Every year, the BCB team comes up with new ideas to surprise its visitors, such as cool activities, the most innovative products, and special guest shifts with the crème de la crème of the international bar scene.

 

BAR CONVENT BERLIN 2022 will take place from October 10th to 12th.

 For Tickets Head To: www.barconvent.com 

Don’t drink and drive. Enjoy responsibly.

 

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