Ready-to-Serve Cocktail Segment Showing Strong Early Growth

While ready-to-drink options, generally in single-serve cans, have been rising steadily for several years, their ready-to-serve counterparts, which are often sold in larger format bottles and designed to be shared, are just starting to gain traction off-premise.

At the Pinkie’s chain of retail stores in West Texas, owner Austin Keith says premium ready-to-serve brands are beginning to resonate. “I’m seeing people pick up on those,” he says. “They are a little bit higher priced, but people realize that there’s quality in the bottle.”

Diageo entered the ready-to-serve fray last fall with the introduction of The Cocktail Collection, which includes Ketel One Vodka Espresso Martini and Vodka Cosmopolitan, Tanqueray Gin Negroni, and Bulleit Manhattan and Old Fashioned (each $25 a 750-ml.). Nikhil Shah, brand director of The Cocktail Collection, says the line has had “an amazing response” from consumers, and the growth “coincides with the massive uptick in the ultra-premium tier of the ready-to-serve category.”

While volume in the ready-to-serve sector is minuscule compared to RTDs, several new brands are creating a buzz. Suntory Global Spirits’ On The Rocks—up 11% to 738,000 9-liter cases last year, according to Impact Databank—is one such brand. Acquired in 2020, On The Rocks straddles the line between ready-to-drink (typically a single serving) and larger format ready-to-serve cocktails. Suntory Global also offers Delola ready-to-serve cocktails in both 375-ml. ($10) and 750-ml. sizes ($20). The Jennifer Lopez-backed cocktails are made with natural botanicals and have a “spritz” effect, topping 100,000 cases in their debut last year.

Pernod Ricard USA launched Glenlivet Twist & Mix Cocktails ($23 a 750-ml.) last year with a unique format. Consumers twist the cap to mix a burst of cocktail flavorings into The Glenlivet single malt. The Glenlivet joined Malibu and Absolut in Pernod Ricard’s ready-to-serve portfolio. “We’ve seen the ready-to-serve category grow more than 70% in the past year, including a rise in rum drinks, which is a great opportunity for Malibu to deliver on what our consumers are looking for—easy and delicious cocktails,” says Emily Cohen, senior innovation director at Pernod Ricard USA.

Bart Silvestro, CEO of Via Carota Craft Cocktails, from the restaurant bearing the same name in Manhattan’s West Village in New York City, says ready-to-serve cocktails “definitely have a different usage occasion than traditional RTDs. Consumers are still discovering ready-to-serve and we have seen the category become a go-to for gatherings where the host doesn’t want to be a bartender at their own party,” he says.

Zing Zang CEO Brent Albertson says Bloody Marys have been “conspicuously absent” from the ready-to-serve category until Zing Zang launched last year. The Zing Zang Bloody Mary and Blazing Bloody Mary, both at 9% abv, are available in 1.75-ml. bottles for a suggested retail price of $18. Albertson notes the proliferation of bottled cocktails but says there is still plenty of room for growth, particularly in Bloody Marys. “In terms of Bloody Marys, we’re almost five out of every 10 bottles sold in the United States,” he claims, adding that slow but steady growth is expected for the brand this year.

Retailer Josh Hammond of Buster’s Liquors in Tennessee points out that whiskies—including craft labels—are finding success in ready-to-serve cocktails. Those performing strongly in his store include the Bulleit Manhattan and Old Fashioned (each $25 a 750-ml.); Handy & Schiller Manhattan and Old Fashioned (each $40); and High West Barreled Manhattan and Old Fashioned (each $45).

Some marketers even see opportunity in the on-premise. “We’re currently focused on off-premise play, as we continue to build both awareness and understanding of the products,” Diageo’s Shah says. “We do see the on-premise as an avenue to grow in the near future as an opportunity to offer delicious, ready-to-serve cocktails in locations where that might be difficult or not possible today.”—Carol Ward

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