In 2021, ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails were the fastest-growing spirits category in both revenue and volume, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the US (DISCUS). In a study published by DISCUS in September of 2022 the numbers were even more impressive: RTD revenue had risen 42.3 per cent to $1.6 billion by the end of 2021 and nearly two thirds of survey respondents report they are regular or occasional consumers of spirit-based RTDs. So, what is behind the popularity of these canned and bottled cocktails?
“RTDs have been around for many decades,” says Andrew Rodbell, co-founder of Post Meridiem Spirit Company. “RTDs are popular now because we are living in a post-nine-to-five, instant-gratification world and start-up brands like Post Meridem have elevated the category with high-quality drinks. Consumers are on a journey of maturation from mainstream beer to craft beer to hard seltzers to spirit-based seltzers to canned cocktails. The trends driving this journey are the same across all categories, not just alcohol – health and wellness, premiumization, convenience and
