With both tequila’s and mezcal’s growth rates soaring, the agave spirits category could surpass vodka in a number of years, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. While not an agave spirit, another new product from Mexico is starting to build an audience: Sotol.
Heineken USA is getting into the spirit-based, ready-to-drink canned cocktail market with Dos Equis Margarita, a line extension of the imported Mexican beer brand that will hit retailers in 10 states by the end of June.
Former Anheuser-Busch InBev executive Felipe Szpigel is merging his high-end, ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktail brand Five Drinks Co. into a new beverage venture platform called Better Drinks, that will bring several Brazilian brands into the U.S.
With sales of spirits-based ready-to-drink canned cocktails continuing to boom, battles for turf in the cold box can be tracked to statehouses across the country. And spirit makers are looking for some low-cost ammo: While beer has historically enjoyed favorable excise tax rates, spirit makers are attempting to change those laws, they say, to level the playing field for products of similar ABVs and package sizes.
Matt Brown had worked with entrepreneurs for more than 20 years, but it was his first beverage client who lured him into craft spirits. Now, the business advisor and entrepreneur is all in, with two partners who are focused on investing in craft spirits brands that have stories that make a splash.
Another independent canned cocktail maker boarded the “mother ship” last week when Constellation Brands announced the full acquisition of Austin Cocktails. It’s a move that’s in-step with the other global beverage companies picking up fast-growing RTD producers — but observers in the industry caution that the deal may not be the harbinger future RTD acquisitions.
On the heels of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States’ annual convention in Austin, Chris Swonger, the trade group’s president and CEO, joins the Brewbound Podcast to discuss the growth of ready-to-drink spirits-based canned cocktails, and the organization’s efforts to even the tax rates for RTD products with beer, as well as efforts to add direct-to-consumer sales privileges and much more.
BevNET is proud to announce its inaugural Cocktail Showdown, a pitch competition that will showcase the most innovative and disruptive brands in the rapidly emerging category of spirit-based ready-to-drink and ready-to-pour cocktails. Taking place on August 12, 2021, the competition will be presented as a virtual platform for the hottest new pre-mixed cocktail brands in America.
With projections predicting continued segment growth for RTDs, anyone looking to enter the space will face a competitive landscape. But by studying brands who have either launched during the pandemic or have weathered the storm without faltering, there are plenty of opportunities for new premixed canned cocktails to thrive.
Anheuser-Busch InBev today announced the purchase of fast-growing Cutwater Spirits, a craft distilling venture that was originally born inside of Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits. Specific financial terms of the deal – A-B InBev’s first in the spirits space — were not disclosed.
As the majority of beer business stakeholders continue to examine what impact recreational cannabis could have on the industry, one alcohol trade association has officially come out in support of legalizing the psychedelic drug. The Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA), A Washington, D.C. trade group that works to advance the interests of distributors and brokers of wine and spirits, yesterday announced “an official policy position in favor of a state’s right to establish a legal, well-regulated, adult-use cannabis marketplace.”
In a move toward diversifying its portfolio and reaching spirits consumers, Pabst Brewing Company today announced a foray into the crafts spirits space with the launch of Not Your Father’s Bourbon. The 86 proof (43 percent ABV), small-batch bourbon is the first product to be launched in a new line of spirits under the Not Your Father’s label, which includes the popular Not Your Father’s Root Beer flavored malt beverage as well as hard vanilla cream and ginger ale offerings, among others.
