Hugo cocktail's UK surge mirrors Adriatic's elderflower revival

The Guardian reports that the Hugo elderflower cocktail is snapping at the heels of market-leader Aperol in what it calls 'the summer of spritz' in Britain. The drink, made with elderflower cordial, prosecco, soda and mint, is enjoying explosive growth, with Campari, Sarti Rosa and limoncello varieties also taking off, according to the paper's business desk.

For the Marche bureau, the story lands close to home. The elderflower that gives the Hugo its floral note is not a novelty here: the shrub grows wild along the region's river valleys and is foraged in the hills behind Ancona, where it has long been steeped into cordials by family firms.

The Guardian's figures point to a shift in taste that could matter for small producers along the Adriatic coast, where prosecco from nearby Veneto and local elderflower cordials already meet in glasses at seaside bars from Senigallia to San Benedetto del Tronto.

The Guardian's report, published Saturday, notes that the number of Hugo servings in British pubs and bars has climbed sharply this summer, positioning the drink as a challenger to Aperol's long dominance of the spritz category. The paper attributes the growth to the drink's lighter, less bitter profile and its lower alcohol content, appealing to drinkers seeking a refreshing alternative in warm weather.

For Marche's small beverage and cordial makers, the trend is a reminder of the value of an ingredient they have long taken for granted. Elderflower cordial production in the region is a craft-scale affair, often sold at farmers' markets and agriturismi rather than through national distribution. A sustained international appetite for the Hugo could open new channels for these firms, though none of the region's producers were named in the foreign coverage.

The prosecco connection is also relevant: Marche's own white wines, including Verdicchio, are sometimes used as a base for spritz-style drinks by local bartenders, even if the DOCG prosecco from Veneto and Friuli remains the standard. The Guardian's story does not mention Italian regions directly, but the cocktail's ingredients tie it to the broader Italian beverage economy that the foreign press has highlighted this summer.

The trend also carries a cautionary note for the region's tourism sector, which has leaned heavily on the Aperol spritz as a symbol of Italian leisure. If the Hugo continues to grow, coastal bars from the Riviera del Conero to the beaches of the Marche may need to adapt their menus to keep pace with international visitors' expectations — a small but telling sign of how global taste shifts reach even the Adriatic's quieter stretches.

The Guardian's report does not provide specific sales figures for the Hugo, but describes its growth as 'explosive' and notes the rise of competing varieties. For Marche, the story is less about cocktail trends than about the resilience of a regional ingredient finding a global market.