While they are already all the rage in the United States, the French ready-to-drinks market is evolving rapidly and seems to be increasingly unavoidable. Are these drinks, which are positioned as an alternative to beer, the next star cans for millennials?
Ready-to-drink refers to drinks that are sold ready to drink. This category includes Alcopops (such as Smirnoff Ice), hard seltzers, wine seltzers or pre-mixes, cocktails prepared and distributed in cans. In the United States, RTDs (short for Ready-To-Drink) are enjoying phenomenal success and are set to overtake the volume of wine consumed by 2021. According to the IWSR study, the RTD category is already overtaking all spirits by volume. According to the same study, the RTD sub-category of hard-seltzers has seen a 130% increase in volume consumption in the year 2020 alone. Quite simply, RTDs have seen the largest increase in consumption in the US in the last year. And it doesn't seem to be stopping: RTDs, which account for 9.6% of the US alcoholic beverage market, are expected to account for 22% of total volume by 2025.
Millennials and Gen Z are the biggest consumers in this market. They are concerned about their health and living a healthier lifestyle and are drastically reducing their alcohol consumption. Thus, 66% of American millennials say they want to reduce their alcohol consumption for health reasons or to lose weight.
In France, this trend is beginning to appear. After the arrival of a few hard seltzer producers on French territory, such as the American giant Snowmelt, and the creation of 100% French wine seltzers such as DILU or Café de Paris, it is the Bacardi company that is unveiling its ready-to-drink Martini cans by offering 3 new recipes to take away, 2 of which are entirely alcohol-free. The company does not intend to stop there and will release its Plume and Petal range in the spring, a low-alcohol RTD.
Hard-seltzers, a sub-category of RTDs, are already present in more than one in two shops in France and should win over French consumers looking for freshness during the upcoming summer season.
The low-alcohol drinks market is booming and the opportunities seem to be growing. It is time for the industry to think about offering low alcohol alternatives to consumers.