RTDs Get Some Spirit
Consumers have a thirst for spirit-based canned cocktails
HIGHER-OCTANE RTDS IN HIGHER DEMAND
At Randall ’ s Wine & Spirits in St . Louis , MO , best-selling spirit-based RTD brands include On the Rocks Cocktails , Moby KRYSTINA SKIBO
Hard seltzer may have hogged the spotlight of the readyto-drink beverage alcohol market in recent years , but spirit-based RTDs and canned cocktails are providing the buzz today .
The U . S . RTD market grew 1.3 % in 2022 , according to Statista , reaching a value of $ 4.8 billion . IWSR also expects RTDs to make incremental volume gains from 2022 to 2027 , expanding at a compound annual growth rate ( CAGR ) of 1 %. This is largely due to consumers shifting from malt-based , seltzer-like RTDs to spirits-based products .
What ’ s driving RTD category growth ? The key cocktails and long drinks ( typically a soda mixed with liquor ) subcategory , according to the IWSR Drinks Market Analysis , along with products that sit within the premium and above price bracket .
Across all markets tracked by IWSR in a 2021 study , spirit-based RTDs — especially those made with vodka — held
45 % category volume share and are driving innovation . IWSR forecasts that cocktails and long drinks will spur the most growth in RTDs globally , with volumes expected to command 26 % of the total RTD category by 2026 , compared to just 20 % for hard seltzers .
Cocktails and long drinks will see their share of RTD volumes grow 4 % across the key markets from 2022 to 2027 , IWSR says . Meanwhile , hard seltzers are expected to shrink 11 % during the same timeframe .
Retailers already see this trend . “ Seltzers , whether they be White Claw ’ s or Truly ’ s , are suffering with the migration of liquor-based RTDs ,” says Charles Sonnenberg , CEO and president of Frugal MacDoogal in Nashville , TN .
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