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Wine & Spirit RTDS- GROWTH BRANDS Wine Fast Track Brands
⊳ High Noon’ s rapid growth can be attributed to the brand doubling down on creativity, cultural moments and strategic partnerships.
2025 GROWTH BRANDS: RTD BRANDS MAKING A SPLASH
by KRYSTINA SKIBO
RISING STAR
Beer, wine and spirits sales are still struggling, and continue to experience volume declines in the post-Covid economy. But the rapid rise in popularity of the ready-to-drink( RTD) beverage category has helped the industry remain afloat. According to the Beverage Information Group’ s 2025 Industry Overview, RTDs increased a projected 20 % in case volume last year, representing a slight slowdown from 2023, but still marking the most significant growth in total distilled spirits.
The category reached 63.0 million 9-liter cases, achieving a 20.5 % category share, up 3.0 % percentage points vs. 2023, according to the overview, just slightly below total whiskey. This growth highlights the category’ s appeal, offering convenience and variety without requiring multiple spirits, mixers or cocktail-making knowledge.
With the market now saturated with companies releasing their own versions of ready-to-drink cocktails, our 2025 RTD Growth Brands winners have managed to stand out, receiving the popular vote amongst consumers.
We spoke with each of our winners to see how they’ re able to achieve such growth in an uncertain economy.
GETTING UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
With RTDs taking up entire aisles at liquor stores, it’ s no longer enough to launch a canned cocktail and wait and see what happens. You need a top-notch marketing plan, and for many of our winners that involves meeting the customers themselves.
Canned cocktail brand and Rising Star winner Carbliss ihas found success in the traditional“ liquid to lips” sampling. It’ s even helping Carbliss launch in new markets.
“ In 2024 we continued our boots on the ground, liquid-to-lips strategy, and we launched in two new states: Ohio and Kansas,” says Carbliss public relations and communications coordinator Casey Suttner.“ In addition, we completed distribution in Illinois, Michigan, Missouri and Nebraska.”
Keeping a pulse on consumer trends and understanding what they’ re looking for in a canned cocktail has helped Carbliss grow as well.
“ Today’ s consumer wants premium, convenient items that can also fit into their wellness goals,” Suttner adds.“ Also, quality and range of flavor is important to our consumers, and Carbliss continues to innovate. We launched five new flavors in 2025: Mango, Watermelon, Raspberry, Blood Orange and Grapefruit.”
Rising Star winner High Noon also credits its success to creative marketing.“ In 2024, we doubled down on creativity, cultural moments and strategic partnerships to keep High Noon top of mind all year long,” says Brandon Lieb, vice president of Spirit of Gallo.“ We also tapped into experiential activations to drive cultural relevance and deepen consumer engagement.”
High Noon made a historic splash with the High Noon Boston Vodka Iced Tea Party in spring 2024, taking over an 18th-century-style ship in Boston Harbor and presenting the city with 342 cases of High Noon Vodka Iced Tea— the exact amount of tea dumped in the harbor in 1773.
“ And through football tailgating activations, we brought the High Noon
RISING STAR
Canned cocktail brand and Rising Star winner Carbliss is finding major success in the acclaimed“ liquid to lips” marketing strategy. www. cheersonline. com Summer 2025 • Cheers 27