ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
Beyond Beer New innovations continue to pour into the alcoholic beverages space By Kathleen Furore
ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails and flavored malt beverages have all had their moment in the spotlight. And while trends wax and wane, industry data projects that these drinks will continue driving consumers’ alcohol consumption and purchase patterns for several years to come — and that means convenience store retailers must embrace the “Beyond Beer” category to capture the sales buzz these beverages deliver.
“It was the only beverage alcohol category to grow at all during the COVID crisis, resonating with consumers across all demographics, and driven by the trend for convenience, refreshment and flavor,” said the company’s Drinks Market Analysis released in June 2021.
“The past few years have seen a significant rise in the popularity of alcoholic beverage segments together referred to as ‘Ready to Drink’ or ‘Beyond Beer,’” according to the 2021 RTD/Beyond Beer Path to Purchase Study from VideoMining, a provider of in-store behavior analytics for CPG retail. “Numerous competitive products have entered the market with a multitude of flavors, functional benefits, package formats, and alcohol bases.”
George Ward, national director of off-premise for The Boston Beer Co., maker of Truly Hard Seltzer and Twisted Tea, notes that “every major distillery, plus breweries, wineries and entrepreneurs are diving into the [Beyond Beer] space.”
IWSR, an authority on the global beverage alcohol market, reported that the RTD category posted double-digit global growth in 2020 — up 26.4 percent.
So, how can c-stores pick products that make the most sense to stock in their limited amount of shelf space considering the tremendous influx of new products hitting the market?
HARD SELTZERS,
IWSR projects that RTD volume will increase by 26.6 percent in 2021, driven by growth in the United States, which held 44 percent share of the global RTD volume in 2020.
Managing the Mix
The category’s varied segments include hard seltzers, ready-to-drink cocktails, flavored malt beverages (FMBs), hard kombucha, hard water, hard coffee, cheladas, and more.
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