TUESDAY TRENDS: HOW THE READY TO DRINK SPACE IS AFFECTING THE ADULT BEVERAGE SPACE

Trends come and go. Some stick, some don’t. Trends are only trending until… well… until they’re not. In which case, we then all have new trends to talk about. Trending topics are always a major point of discussion amongst us at Protis Global. We love to share articles and information about the latest and greatest and predict whether it’s here to stay or a short-lived wave. 

Right now, one of the trends we haven’t been able to stop talking about is a shift in what consumers drink. 

Protis Global is an executive search and advisory firm which operates heavily in a few key industries. One of the industries we focus on is FMCG. FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) is an industry that encompasses so many subcategories, two of which are: 1) the ready to drink beverage space and 2) the adult beverage space. Both are consumer packaged goods (cpg) and both fit nicely into the wheelhouse we have been comfortable with for almost 25 years. 

Because we are integrated fully into these spaces, we stay current with the movements of the industries we serve as well as with the trends dominating these industries.

This week we’ll be talking about HOW THE READY TO DRINK SPACE IS AFFECTING THE ADULT BEVERAGE SPACE.

Global measurement and data analytics company, Nielsen, recently published an article about how the two spaces are interacting and where the overlap is coming from titled “HOW NEWER READY-TO-DRINK BEVERAGES AND PACKAGES ARE SHAKING UP THE ADULT BEVERAGE MARKET.” We are going to give you a quick snapshot of some of the findings from this article that we found particularly interesting and useful as we move forward in this always evolving space. 

Consumers are empowered with so many choices today. As a consumer peruses almost any aisle in the store or page on a grocery app, there is a subcategory for everyone. Because of this, the choices are not limited so consumers have the power. Drink companies and all companies whose customer is the average consumer has to cater to consumer data and analytics now more than ever because consumer preference dictates everything.

Nielsen data reveals that “Americans 21 and older aren’t increasing their overall alcohol intake each year the way they’re adding to their intake of media from a myriad of platforms and devices… Importantly, the ready-to-drink trend has broadened the scope for how alcoholic beverages have traditionally been contained. Specifically, cans, boxes and Tetra Paks are steadily growing as popular vessels for ready-to-drink adult beverages. Cans, in particular, are performing particularly well.”

The most predominate purchase driver in cpg is price and the second is convenience. 

55.52% of consumers say the reason they “purchase single-serve ready-to-drink cocktails [is for] a convenient way to have a cocktail” and second is because they “can buy them in [their] grocery store.”

“The ready-to-drink space is boosting sales across all alcohol beverage categories, with the emerging malt-based cocktail segment leading the pack in growth. Annual sales in this segment are up 574%, and malt-based cocktails now account for $4.7 million in annual sales.”

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