Canned cocktails and bottled serves saw their popularity skyrocket during the pandemic, but can RTDs continue their success into 2025?

The ready-to-drink (RTD) sector was the only major alcohol category to record volume growth last year, according to IWSR’s RTDs Strategic Study 2024.

RTDs posted a 2% volume rise, with the most growth being in Mexico (up by 8%), and Germany, which rose by 4%. It followed five years of double‐digit growth in five key markets. Volume and value for the sector are forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3% between 2023 and 2028.

The US is poised to drive growth of the category, where IWSR expects spirits‐based RTDs to rise by a CAGR of 6% (2023‐2028).

Carol Robert, managing director of US RTD at Suntory Global Spirits, says: “The global RTD category continues to show healthy growth, and is expected to continue growing globally. This is a must‐win segment for Suntory Global Spirits, especially in the US, and one of our goals is to be the number‐one RTD company in the world.” Data from Global Brands also indicates that ready‐to‐serve (RTS) cocktails are booming in the UK.

Craig Chapman, head of brand, says this segment was “valued at £89 million in 2014, and surged to £411m by 2024, adding £44m in the past year alone”, led by premium and super‐premium variants. Chapman notes that while spirit and mixer cans “hold the largest share of the market, increasing by £7m in 2024, canned cocktails are expanding at an even faster rate”.

Britt West, chief commercial officer of Gallo, owner of High Noon, says: “While the growth of the RTD category is normalising, it is continuing to take share across total alcohol and certainly doesn’t feel like it’s slowing down in terms of innovation and opportunities for growth.”

He notes that the category’s growth momentum during the pandemic has led to an influx of brands “trying to innovate quickly to enter the category”. As such, this has resulted in “increased difficulty getting consumers’ attention and misconceptions about RTDs’ taste and quality of ingredients”.

Chapman notes that accessibility, flavour innovation and transparency, in terms of sugar and alcohol content, are challenges for the category. Like Chapman, West believes market access is a challenge because in certain states beer and wine‐based RTDs are more widely available than spirit‐based offerings with the same ABV. Tetra will also make a major appearance as a packaging format in 2025, West predicts.

In terms of serves, the Margarita is the “fastest‐growing flavour, adding £4m (US5m) to the category in the last 12 months”, based on NIQ RTD data for the year ending 24 February 2024 cited by Chapman, while the Espresso Martini contributed £2.5m over the same period. The Paloma generated more than £1m in retail sales value.

Robert says RTDs can expand across occasions. “Spiked seltzers are popular on occasions like sporting events, or backyard barbecues, while ready‐to‐serve cocktails or Spritzes are often enjoyed during more elevated gatherings or holidays.”

Brands to watch in 2025

Surfside

The spirit‐based hard tea brand hit one million cases in 2023, after only its second year on shelves. The US brand is projected to reach 4m cases this year, and has already expanded to 42 states. Hard tea seems to be trending in the US, with High Noon and Jack Daniel’s Country Cocktails entering the sector this year. Could we also see hard teas boom in other markets?

Moth

After dominating the UK off‐trade with a 41% share of the premium RTD category, Moth has its sights set on the US. The UK brand recently secured £4.6 million (US$5.8m) in funding to accelerate its growth in the States and expand its team on both sides of the Atlantic.

Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop

After making its debut in the US, and recently launching in the UK, Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre’s RTD brand has already grown to 250,000 cases. Led by the team behind bottled cocktail brand On The Rocks (sold to Suntory in 2020), Gin & Juice is surely poised for further success.