Canned cocktails like BACARDI's new line-up are growing like crazy.
Canned cocktails remain one of the hottest categories of alcoholic beverages, and their trend of explosive growth doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.
The overall category of ready-to-drinks, from malt-based flavored drinks to hard seltzers to canned cocktails made with spirits has grown tremendously from April 2019 to April 2020, growing at a rate of about 80 percent, according to Nielsen. According to a report released earlier this month by trend forecaster WGSN, ready-to-drink cocktails, in particular, are capturing consumer and driving interest in the category. The report, compiled by Sarah O’Sullivan and Claire Lancaster, indicates that in recent years, there’s been steady growth in the category of RTD’s, but “the trend for RTD cocktails has accelerated in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, with sales growing exponentially, as consumers are unable to visit bars and restaurants.”
“While the RTD category was initially created and an on-the-go solution, a majority of buyers are turning to them as convenient in-home solutions to unwind and relax,” the analysis reported.
“Prepared cocktails are the fastest growing segment,” says Ned Duggan, global sales senior vice president for BACARDI, which just released its own line of ready-to-drink rum cocktails earlier this year. “It is a very active space in the spirits landscape.”
Sales have been so strong for the three rum cocktails – lime & soda, rum punch and limon & lemonade - that BACARDI has doubled its estimated forecast for the product this year, Duggan says. “Our biggest challenge is keeping them on the shelves,” he says. “The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and we’ve had to ramp up production, which is always a good thing.”
BACARDI isn’t the only brand of RTD cocktails that’s experienced such explosive growth. The Miami Cocktail Company’s online sales of the second quarter of this year have trended up 2,900 percent over the same time period last year.
“Our significantly ramped up marketing efforts and the increase in online retail sales during COVID more generally have had a huge impact on Miami Cocktail Company’s online business,” says Ross Graham, CEO of Miami Cocktail Company.
The Miami Cocktail Company features a line of organic spritzes, including such flavors as mango & peach rosé bellini, sunrise rosé sangria, mandarin rosé mimosa, grapefruit & hibiscus paloma and elderflower & ginger margarita. “Our focus is on creating authentic cocktails – we don’t produce ‘flavors,’” says Graham. “However, we do add our own twist to the classic cocktails we make, (like) adding just a hint of ginger and elderflower to our margarita spritz.”
Miami Cocktail Company's line of canned, healthier cocktails have grown exponentially.
The cocktails especially appeal to those who are health-conscious, says Michael Brandes, director of marketing. “Much of the trend of RTD is being driven by a broad-based desire to find better-for-you options,” Graham says. “With respect to alcoholic beverages, that means lower calorie, lower ABV drinking. Consumers are also looking for convenience and canned beverages are just really, really easy.”
The WGSN report advises companies to explore healthier twists in canned beverages. “As consumers increasingly seek out healthier versions of products across indulgent categories from desserts to snacks, create low-calorie and low-sugar formats with an emphasis on high-quality ingredients,” the report says.
This is a marketing point for Miami Cocktail Company, Brandes says. “With our organic certification, real ingredients and the fact that we make actual cocktails are what make us unique,” he says.
“Today’s RTD’s have come a long way from what they were just a few years ago,” Graham says. “In the past, most RTD’s were sugary, syrupy concoctions, loaded with chemical flavorings. Today’s consumers still value convenience, but they’re looking for cleaner products that allow them to enjoy a few drinks, without feeling like the health and wellness tradeoffs are too onerous.”
Canned cocktails contain actual spirits and real cocktail ingredients. “What makes our cocktails different from a lot of what is out there is that ours are not malt-based, like a lot of our competitors, which is closer to a beer than a true cocktail,” Duggan says. “All three of our cocktails use natural ingredients, real cane sugar and our rum base.”
Though the trend of canned cocktails is more recent in the United States, it’s a popular way to drink cocktails elsewhere, Duggan says. “In other places of the world, this is the primary way people drink cocktails,” Duggan says. “If we look to Western Europe and Asia, which has had a thriving ready to drink audience, in many ways, we’re seeing the U.S. catching up.”
“The prepared cocktail market was on trend before the pandemic struct, and it does speak to a need that people are experiencing during the pandemic,” Duggan says. “We do see this as a trend that will continue once things are (returning) to normal.”
When BACARDI announced on social media that they were releasing a line of canned cocktails, the company experienced the largest response and feedback for any of its posts within the past two years. “Our audience really jumped all over them,” he says. “Within 24 hours, we knew we had something great on our hands.”
