Steps developed in pre-project to launch a new product on the market: mead flavored with cocoa

Mead is a fermented alcoholic beverage whose main base is honey and has between 0.8 to 18% ethanol in its composition. It is still considered a nutritious drink because it contains several elements necessary for the human body, presenting positive effects for the digestion process and metabolism. The production of this drink basically consists of the combination of honey, water and yeast, subjected to a fermentation process that will produce ethanol, responsible for checking the alcohol content of the drink. During its elaboration, some aromatic compounds characteristic of mead are also produced, which contain specificities depending on the origin of the honey being used. Beverage production is one of the main sectors that drive the Brazilian economy, as presented in Law No. human ingestion, in a liquid state, which has no medicinal or therapeutic purpose. 3510, of June 16, 2000, which defines an alcoholic beverage as "a refreshing product, aperitif or stimulant, intended for human ingestion in the liquid state, without medicinal purposes and containing more than 0.5 g of ethyl alcohol". In this sense, according to Ordinance No. 64 of April 23, 2008, mead is defined as "a beverage with an alcoholic strength of four to fourteen percent by volume, at twenty degrees Celsius, obtained by the alcoholic fermentation of a solution of bee honey, nutrient salts and drinking water”. Currently, the production of mead in Brazil is mostly carried out by small producers, however this sector has great investment potential due to the greater demand for this drink. In addition, the manufacture of mead represents a very promising investment as it is a profitable activity for all those involved in its production system, generating jobs and increasing the movement of the economy as a whole. Thus, this work aimed to make a brief description of the product entitled "mead flavored with cocoa" and present the main steps to launch this product on the market.