Alright folks we are live! We witnessed madness the first weekend of play for Symrise Flavor Madness 2021. If you are just joining us, refer to our introductory article for rules and field of flavors. Otherwise, let’s continue below to our in-game analysis.

RELATED: Symrise North America’s Flavor Madness 2021: Hard Seltzers vs Canned Cocktails

NATURAL GOODNESS REGION

Number 1 seed Mango made quick work against underdog #16 Black Cherry Lime. A #1 Mango victory was expected as mango is the number one launched hard seltzer flavor in the U.S. for 2019. #9 Pineapple squeezed past #8 Peach in a match-up that had the fans evenly split. To continue the pineapple trend we saw #12 Passionfruit Pineapple overcome #5 seed Blood orange to advance to the next round.

We all figured there would be at least one upset, right? But who knew it would come this early and belong to 15 seed Lemonade being out the 2 seed Grapefruit to advance! Grapefruit is a top three launched flavor behind Mango and Lime yet will be watching from the sidelines here on out. Not so many surprises rounding out the group with advancements from #3 Raspberry, #4 Lemon, #6 Passion Fruit and #7 Watermelon.

The Healthy Lifestyle region gave us some heart-racing fun.
· #1 Lime steam rolled through #16 Blueberry Acai
· #8 Strawberry Kiwi made light work of #9 Hibiscus
· #2 Black Cherry defeats #15 Cucumber Watermelon
· #13 Strawberry Guava upsets #4 Cranberry
· #5 Lemon & Lime breezes by #12 Cranberry Cherry

As we move forward in the tournament look for duel flavor combinations to challenge single flavors. As we look at cross category inspiration in these flavors note that sugar confectionery as of recent has been innovating with duel flavor; what could that look like for your brand?

PREMIUM INDULGENCE REGION

· #1 Margarita cruises by #16 Pisco Sour
· #8 Vodka Cranberry squeaks by #9 Hard Tea
· #2 Old Fashion beats #15 French 75
· #10 Whiskey Ginger upsets #7 Mai Tai

Though an upset, it’s no surprise about the popularity of Whiskey Ginger. According to Technomic, Ginger is one of the top pairings with whiskey. Millennial consumers are very interested in brown spirits and over index in their consumption of American whiskey compared to other brown spirit consumers.

EMOTIONAL DISCOVERIES REGION

· #1 Mojito beats #16 Hurricane
· #12 Hard Coffee barley surpasses #5 Moscow Mule

Moscow Mule falling to Hard Coffee is another bracket buster. Moscow Mule is one of the most popular Speciality Restaurant Drinks on foodservice menus across the US. Younger consumers (Gen Z and younger Millennials) are starting to find new occasions for coffee, including relaxation and unwinding. Hard Coffee (with low or no levels of caffeine) can fill this need space.

· #14 Pina Colada upsets #3 Rum and Coke
· #2 Gin and Tonic makes quick work of #15 Gimlet

For those left scratching their head over #14 Pina Colada with the upset over #Rum and Coke this falls in line with one of our Emotional Discoveries subtend “Bold Excitement” where we see consumers gravitating towards adventurous combinatory flavors. As well #Pina colada follows a recent trend of tropical flavors becoming more prevalent in beverages doubled with the health halo of coconut flavored beverages.

That is it for this week. CLICK HERE for the updated bracket and thanks for following!

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