More than 200 participants – experts related to alcohol and beverage categories – took part in the first edition of the Alcohols and Beverages Congress which was held on 19 September in the Warsaw Renaissance hotel. It was a very successful meeting – these were the opinions heard behind the scenes of Renaissance hotel. Both the representatives of the non-alcoholic beverages and alcohol industries were positive about the Congress. During the all-day event they had an opportunity to listen to the experts of the trade and production sectors, as well as experts of research agencies Nielsen, IQS, ABR Sesta and PwC who presented the situation of both sectors and particular segments and discussed the market trends. The Alcohols and Beverages Congress 2018 was held in two thematic rooms – “beverages” and “alcohols”. The guests could listen to three thematic debates: “Pole, show what you drink and I will tell you who you are...”, which related to the changes in the consumer preferences on the alcohol market, “To your health! How the new trends change the market for water, juices and beverages”, devoted to trends in the beverage market and “How to reconcile fire with water – allies and competitors in fight for customers”, during which the participants sought the answer to the question how much connects and how much divides the alcohol industry and the beverage industry. An important part of the Congress were meetings within the Business Mixer session, during which representatives of companies from the beverage and alcohol sectors conducted business talks with purchasers responsible for orders in leading retail chains. At the same time as the debates and presentations were held in the exhibition zone, producers and distributors of alcohols and beverages presented their products and services. Coverage of the conference is available at www.wiadomoscihandlowe.pl. A comprehensive account of the event will be presented in the October issue of “Wiadomości Handlowe” monthly.