As many of us recently exchanged gifts with friends and loved ones, it is possible that people received items that will not get the most use (even if the recipient requested it). Whether it is another hand cream or the latest at-home workout gadget, not every gift will see its regular rotation in people’s lives. However, as we embark on 2020, Beverage Industry has a gift to share with our readers that our team hopes you all will enjoy.

BNP Media, parent company to Beverage Industry, has updated our digital editions in an effort to make consuming the content of its publications easier for today’s digital-savvy readers.

Among the highlights from the upgraded platform is a responsive format. The digital edition will promptly respond to the device that is being used. For instance, desktop users will see a replica of the print issue, while mobile users will see the new contents view as the default setting. The content view setting organizes the content as a list that is accompanied with brief article descriptions and thumbnail images. The scrolling method to go through the issue also has been optimized for small screens.

Given the growing popularity of podcasts and other audio formats, the new digital edition now is equipped with instant audio. Mobile users and desktop users who have selected an article title now will see a speaker icon as one of the options. When selecting this option with an Internet connection present, the platform will initiate a text-to-speech rendering of the article, powered by the same engine Amazon uses for its Alexa devices.

And just like how your eCommerce app knows which products to suggest for your grocery delivery orders, Beverage Industry’s digital edition offers a personalized content stream. The system now is able to deliver specific types of content to a user based on past activity. Selecting this option from the menu will bring up all relevant articles, which will pull articles across a broad base of varying issue editions. The more readers click on a topic, the better the system will be at bringing them what users want to see.

For 2020, better digital editions is not the only aspect we hope to bring to our readers. We are looking to expand our Sip & Learn podcast content to explore topics that are impacting today’s beverage manufacturers and distributors. Topics the brand is looking forward to delivering to the magazine’s community include the burgeoning bottled water market, the many layers of cannabis-infused beverages, recycling solutions and sustainability efforts, and much more.

If there is a topic that you would like us to address in an upcoming podcast episode, please feel free to reach out to myself or another member on the staff, as we want to deliver the topics that interest you.

Here’s to starting off 2020 with a renewed digital focus!