Ready-to-drink cocktails will double their market share by 2025.
It should come as no surprise that consumer spending tanked during 2020. Even now, shoppers are cautious as the threat of a recession looms. On the other hand, you may be surprised by the scrappy little luxury item that hasn’t slowed its growth since 2018. Ready-to-drink cocktail sales have been outperforming other major drinks category for four consecutive years, and experts predict RTDs will double their market share by 2025.
Consumers are actively seeking variety in their favorite beverage alcohol categories.
A recent study suggested an interesting paradox when it comes to beverage alcohol flavor preferences. Consumers tend to remain loyal to the first (usually sweeter) beverage alcohol they try. For Gen X, that would be the vintage fruity flavor of the wine cooler. For Gen Z, it’s a refreshing hard seltzer. However, consumers also want variety when it comes to their beverage options. Ready-to-drink cocktails are able to offer a limitless range of variations on consumers’ favorite nostalgic drinks, making it an easy sell even in a hard market.
Flavor variety isn’t the only benefit to be found in the ready-to-drink cocktail market. In a recent Seven Fifty Daily article, Kayleigh Theriault, the beverage alcohol thought leadership manager for Nielsen IQ, noted, “When we talk about alcohol, we talk about how consumers are looking to experience new flavors. They’re also looking for convenience, a premium experience, and a wellness element. Ready-to-drink options really hit on all of these consumer drivers at once.”
The memory of low-quality pre-mixed cocktails still poses a challenge to premium RTD cocktail distillers.
Nostalgia may fuel beverage alcohol preferences, but bad memories take a toll, too. Not every cocktail in a can, box, or bottle has been a smash hit. Consumers have rejected plenty of RTDs because they tasted “fake,” and memories of artificial-tasting beverages can be a sticking point at the cash register. Successful RTD distillers differentiate themselves by taking a craft approach, sourcing simple, all natural ingredients to ensure a ready-to-drink cocktail that tastes premium – healthy even.
Real fruit puree adds the sweet flavor that consumers crave to elevate craft RTD cocktails.
Fresh fruit flavor brightens and sweetens, enhancing the depth and complexity of your RTD cocktail blend. Using real fruit puree sidesteps the fake taste problem and elevates the flavor of craft cocktails. At Puree Arête, we select only sun ripe fruits with high brix levels to ensure all-natural sweetness – no added sugar necessary. Currently, tequila- and vodka-based RTD cocktails are having a moment. Use Puree Arete 100% fruit puree to add real fruit flavor to a few of these nostalgic cocktail favorites.
Tequila-based RTD cocktails
Vodka-based RTD cocktails
Boost your RTD market share with premium fruit puree!
Purée Areté award-winning fruit purées infuse cosmopolitans, margaritas, and other delicious craft cocktails with real fruit flavor. Our rigorous standards ensure that each batch is consistent, and we don’t add sugar to pureés and concentrates for distilleries and brewers. When you customize your RTD fruit cocktail with our pureé, you’re getting nothing but pure fruit flavor. Each flavor is available in a 5-gallon bag-in-box or 55-gallon drums.
