Pre-pandemic most millennials would arrive home from their Instagrammable venues after spending a night at an actual bar with friends in boozy bliss, probably staring at a semi-empty bar cart because who makes cocktails anyways? Then Covid came along and with it began an endless drinking game, that so far, is being won by RTD spirits.
Leave it to the generation of instant gratification to revive a category that saw its decline before most of them were even born. RTDs are perfect for millennials who are very keen to cleaning up not only their pantries, but their bar carts as well, looking for lower-calorie drinks that are readily accessible, without additional fuss, and that offer the same Instagrammable vibe as a craft cocktail.
Resurgence of RTD 🍷
—Market size of US RTD spirit product in 2020 is of $4.9 billion.
—For alcohol delivery startup Drizly, new customers have doubled in 2020 and currently make up 33% of the company's total sales! The RTD segment has grown 416% in share of sales year-over-year.
—Over the past 5 years, volume consumption of tequila in the US grew by more than 40%. In 2020, tequila saw biggest spike, up more than 75%, now fastest growing spirits segment in the U.S
—From summer 2019 to summer 2020, hard seltzer category saw $2.7 billion in sales as consumers decreased spending on beer and wine.
—According to Nielsen at the beginning of 2018, just 10 hard seltzer brands were on the market, rising to 26 a year later and now more than 65 brands exist, half using a unique brand name, and the other half pivoting off an existing beer brand name.
