Beyond Beer

With spirit-based, ready-to-drink versions of popular hard seltzers on the way, has the era of the RTD trade-ups officially arrived?

E-commerce luxury spirits platform ReserveBar announced today that it will now provide on-demand sales, a move that reflects the changing landscape of online alcohol shopping and underscores the company’s ongoing mission to bridge the technology gap between alcohol producers and consumers.

Diageo Beer Co. is leaning on the learnings of Daft Punk in fiscal year 2023 to be “better, faster [and] stronger” across all its bev-alc brands, including Lone River Ranch Water, Smirnoff, and Guinness.

PepsiCo and FIFCO USA have struck a licensing agreement to allow the latter to produce a hard iced tea using the Lipton brand, which will roll out next year through Pepsi’s Blue Cloud Distribution.

Dogfish Head’s canned cocktails are gaining traction in the fast-growing spirits-based, ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktail market. Dollar sales of the Dogfish Head brand family (+92.3%) are outpacing the overall segment (+56.5%), according to NielsenIQ total U.S. all off-premise data, shared by Bump Williams Consulting.

Global spirits conglomerate Diageo has acquired premium cold brew coffee liqueur brand Mr Black, in which it previously held a minority stake, the company announced today. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Topo Chico’s fated move into hard spirits is coming in 2023, via Molson Coors. On the heels of the fast-growing Topo Chico Hard Seltzer brand, Molson Coors will launch a spirit-based version of Topo Chico in key markets, such as the southwest and southeast and parts of the Midwest.

Cannabis beverage producer Cann announced today it has acquired Toronto-based CBD drink maker Sweet Reason, marking the company’s first acquisition as it seeks to build out a platform for alcohol alternatives. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Hard seltzers ended the summer season down -5.5% year-to-date through September 10 in multi-outlet plus convenience channels, as the segment continues to battle tough comps of years past, financial services firm Jefferies reported, citing NielsenIQ data.

Dollar sales of non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits at off-premise retailers have more than doubled in the last three years, according to market research firm NielsenIQ. In 2019, non-alc versions of traditional beverage-alcohol products earned $178.7 million at off-premise retailers. In the 52 weeks ending August 20, their dollar sales reached $395.2 million, according to IRI.

Ready-to-drink beverage-alcohol (RTDs) has crossed into every alcoholic-beverage category, with spirits-based and wine-based RTDs, hard seltzers, flavored malt beverages (FMBs) and more.

As consumers continue to cut their alcohol intake and embrace zero proof alternatives, startup retailer Sèchey is working to ensure that shoppers looking for non-alc beer, wine and spirits don’t get hung out to dry.

On-premise sales over Labor Day weekend received “an uplift in velocity” on Sunday (+16%) and Monday (+54%) compared to the previous week, NielsenIQ’s on-premise tracking arm, CGA, reported today.

Total beverage-alcohol dollar sales increased +9.3% during Labor Day weekend compared to the prior week, market research firm IRI reported.