8 Category Trends

selling the most of . And all these wines tend to have packaging that strips away pretentiousness . Champagne corks and wire cages have become crown caps , and where labels once had regal chateaus , I now see cartoon characters or sketches of the wine maker ' s dog .”

Other wine retailers have embraced similar strategies . At Court Liquors in Long Branch , NJ , near Monmouth University as well as the mansion-lined beaches of Asbury Park , natural wines comprise 30 % of the wine section and have become a go-to for younger customers .

“ Early on I noticed that younger consumers were drawn to this category ,” says Court Liquors vice president Nicholas Pizzonia . “ It seemed refreshing , new and without pretense . I view natural wine as a counterculture .”

“ Which is probably the reason why younger consumers are drawn to it ,” he adds . “ It is not your parents ’ wine or wine rules . It ' s creative , with a DIY kind of attitude . Natural wine doesn ’ t comply with the conventional rules of wine : whether how it ’ s made , or where it comes from , the more obscure the better .” This has provided growth within an overall lagging category . “ Our wine sales are even , but within our wine sales , natural continues to grow ,” Pizzonia says . “ We are trending 10 % up YOY in natural wine sales . This is a positive sign , considering wine sales are trending down .”

READY-TO-DRINK STILL BOOMING

Joining tequila and THC drinks as a segment still growing is canned cocktails . What started as a trend at the beginning of the pandemic has continued through to current times . Readyto-drink products ( RTDs ) continue to appeal to younger consumers for being convenient , affordable and high quality .

Especially spirits-based RTDs . According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the U . S . ( DISCUS ), premixed cocktails including spirits RTDs were up 26.8 % or $ 599 million , reaching $ 2.8 billion in 2023 .

“ Despite the hard seltzer craze we witnessed from 2017 to 2021 , which was malt-driven , spirits-based products have actually grown faster , just off a smaller base ,” said Marten Lodewijks , head of consulting – Americas at IWSR Drinks Market Analysis , during the annual DISCUS economic briefing . “ Spirits-based products , including the vodka- and tequila-based hard seltzers that entered the picture later , offer consumers a slightly more premium experience , and that has been key to their success over the malt-based alternatives that initially created the category .”

As spirits take over the category , what ’ s the demo for these products ?

Millennials and Gen Z are driving the RTD category growth , according to Jill Burns and Kelly Gasnik , sisters and

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26 Cheers • Spring 2025 www . cheersmagazine . com