Exclusive: U.S. Spirits Market Rises 4.2% To Just Under 300 Million Cases
January 2, 2024A wave of growth from the ascendant RTD category swept the U.S. spirits market to new heights in 2023, with Impact Databank estimating that total volumes reached 299.9 million cases on a 4.2% increase. The strong showing capped a buoyant five-year period in which the spirits industry has expanded at a rate of 5.3% annually, or by a total of almost 70 million cases.
The top 25 spirits brands in the market grew 3.6% collectively last year, but were slightly outpaced by smaller labels, which advanced 4.7%, in a reversal of the situation from the past five years. Over the past half-decade, the market leaders grew at an annual rate of 7.8%, raising their share of the total spirits category from 39% to 44%, while brands outside the top 25 rose at an average of 3.5% annually.
The rise of the RTD category masked more challenging conditions for a majority of brands among the market leaders in 2023, as only seven of the top 25 labels posted volume increases. The group’s volume progress was led by standout brands like High Noon, Tito’s, Cutwater, Monaco, Casamigos, and Don Julio, all of which grew by 5% or more, underscoring consumer thirst for both Tequilas and RTDs.
Gallo-owned High Noon extended its volume lead in the spirits market last year, reaching 21.4 million cases in 2023, according to Impact Databank’s estimate. But Tito’s continues to reign as the leading brand in retail dollar terms, with its U.S. retail value now nearing $2.5 billion. The Texas-based vodka brand is joined by Crown Royal and Hennessy as the only spirits brands with U.S. retail value above the $2 billion mark.
The consumer penchant for canned cocktails has had vast implications across the market, boosting the fortunes of participating brands but presenting stiff new competition to many of the established full-strength spirits labels. Overall, the ready-to-drink spirits segment has catapulted from under 10 million cases nationally in 2019 to almost 60 million cases last year. Moreover, High Noon, with U.S. retail value estimated at $1.5 billion, has accounted for 31% of the total spirits category’s volume growth since 2018.
While RTDs are helping to usher new consumers into the spirits category, they’re also inevitably drawing drinkers from full-strength spirits in some cases. That’s perhaps most evident in the vodka category—still the largest spirits segment by volume—which declined 2% to 77 million cases in the U.S. last year, according to Impact Databank, falling below its pre-pandemic level in the process.—Daniel Marsteller
A full report on the U.S. market’s Top 25 Spirits Brands will appear in Impact’s forthcoming January 1&15 edition. Click here to subscribe.
| The Top Six Spirits Brands In The U.S. Market (millions of 9-liter cases) |
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| Rank | Brand | Company | Origin/Type | 2022 | 2023E | Percent Change1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | High Noon Sun Sips |
Spirit of Gallo | Spirits-Based Hard Seltzer |
16.4 | 21.4 | 30.5% |
| 2 | Tito’s | Fifth Generation | Domestic Vodka | 11.6 | 12.1 | 5.0% |
| 3 | Smirnoff2 | Diageo | Domestic Vodka | 8.8 | 8.6 | -1.7% |
| 4 | Fireball | Sazerac Co | Flavored Canadian Whisky |
7.2 | 7.3 | 2.1% |
| 5 | Crown Royal2 | Diageo | Canadian Whisky | 7.2 | 7.0 | -3.4% |
| 6 | Jack Daniel’s2 | Brown-Forman | Tennessee Whiskey | 6.7 | 6.5 | -4.0% |
| 1 Based on unrounded data 2 Includes flavors, excludes RTDs Source: IMPACT DATABANK © 2024 |
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