Alcoholic cocktail beverages play an increasingly crucial role in the growing world-wide economy as innovation in alcoholic brands and the number of consumers of spirits flourishes. The variety of premixed, fruit-flavored, and premixed cocktails has increased significantly universally.
In a recent market research report, the world-wide Ready-to-Drink (RTD) spirits market size was valued at $32.9 Billion (2021), and is expected to reach $85.5 Billion by 2030, according InsightAce Analytic.
Known as alcohol-based Ready-to-Drinks (RTDs), these products refer to any drink that contains an alcoholic beverage and a mixer that is delivered premixed, usually in a can or bottle. RTDs have created a “grab and go” way of life similarly to soft drinks served in cans and bottles.
The Market
Who is drinking all of this volume? In a recent study from Market Segmentation Study Guide (2022), categories of those that drink RTDs could be broken down as follows.
- Really thirsty
- On the go
- Need a boost
- Variety seekers
- Health focus
- Sporty
- Hold the sugar
- Just feel like it
A more precise definition might be as simple as millennials, aged 25 – 45, with limited time on their hands.
Slick Packaging
As the RTD market grows, packaging is becoming more tantalizing. According to IWSR drinks market analysis, they state “Due to the portable nature of the category, Instagram-friendly design is key. Canned and bottled formats allow consumers to drink complex cocktails at the beach…meaning that if drinks makers get the design of their brands right, they’re much more likely to be photographed by consumers in…brand-aligned settings.”
Packaging has always been a key marketing ingredient but as social media platforms thrive, packaging may now be more important than the beverage.
Focus on taste
Sophisticated drinkers may not find the pre-mixed potions in many RTDs as resembling the mixed version they may make at home. Nor do they get excited about fancy designs on a can. What they want is the taste that they’ve come to enjoy when they mix at home.
RTD manufacturers realize this weakness and are striving to make pre-mixed drinks taste as they do at home. Kellyann MacLean, marketing director (Roust) says, “Premium vodkas such as Absolut and Ketel One started to enter the canned RTD space over the last year”. With Beam Suntory’s recent purchase of On the Rocks RTD, they have gained a foothold in the market as well.
What are they not telling us?
The big secret is that drinks from a can – when drank from a can – don’t taste as good as when poured to a cup or glass. There’s actual science behind this dilemma. According to Science World, 80% of taste is aroma. They go on to state that “Our sense of smell in responsible for about 80% of what we taste.” This is why, when our nose is blocked, as by a cold, most foods seem bland or tasteless.”
Think about what’s closest to your nose when drinking from a beverage can – it’s right under your nose (no pun intended)…it’s the aluminum lid. Who knows what other little creatures loom on a lid that’s been sitting in a warehouse, then a store shelf, and then… Let’s not get started on that issue.
It’s no wonder that, in order for an RTD to taste it’s best, it needs to be poured to a cup or glass. If you are on the go or brought your canned RTD with you to the beach, the park, the boat, most likely, you didn’t bring an extra cup or glass. What’s the solution?
The Solution
Quite simply, the 50+ year old can design needs to be re-designed to fit the growth of today’s RTD market with a product that does not require a separate cup or glass to taste it’s best. As is, these RTDs should not be called “Ready to Drink” but rather, “Ready to Pour”.
Red Cup Spirits, a start up company in Southern California, is developing a series of RTD cocktail beverages that will be delivered in the first RTD can with a twist off lid. The twist off lid reveals a full-open mouth container that drinks like a glass – providing full aroma. In addition, ice can be added directly to the can thereby removing any need for a separate cup or glass. If you can’t finish the entire beverage, simply twist the lid back on and save for later.
Red Cup Spirits are expected to be delivered in 1Q23. Sign up at www.redcupspirits.com for product updates.
