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2023’s biggest-selling RTD brands
Growth in the ready-to-drink (RTD) space has slowed in recent years – but half of the biggest names in the business were on the up last year.
RTD products have been a hot topic in recent years, with astonishing growth seen since 2012. That year, according to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, the category accounted for less than 3% volume share of the total US beverage alcohol market – in 2022, it grew to 12%.
Some believe that growth has since plateaued, but IWSR still predicts the category will be worth US$40 billion by 2027 in 10 key markets. For the RTD brands that submitted volume figures to The Brand Champions report, total sales were up by 2.1%; from 2021 to 2022, volumes had grown by 3.1%.
While growth may be slowing, the decline isn’t shared by all brands, with half of those in the top 10 increasing their volume sales in 2023.
Here are the biggest gin brands by volume in 2023.
All data has been listed to one decimal place for ease of reading, but the percentage changes were calculated based on the full data supplied. All data is recorded in millions of nine-litre cases.
10. Jack Daniel’s & Cola
2023: 5.3m
2022: 7.4m
% change: -29.10%
Place last year: NA
A repositioning of Jack Daniel’s RTD brands and a collaboration with Coca-Cola have caused a 29.1% fall for the brand’s previous cola product. With the new canned drink launching in Mexico in late 2022, followed by the UK in March 2023, we’re yet to see full-year volume results – but we imagine it will balance out the decline of the original.
9. Breezers
2023: 6.2m
2022: 6.4m
% change: -3.9%
Place last year: NA
Alcopops might be on their way back – but Bacardi-owned Breezers’ volume sales from 2023 suggest that they’re not quite there yet. The fruity bottled drinks had a rebrand last year, but sales still fell by 3.9% to 6.2m cases. It’s an impressive figure nonetheless, and its new look could bring great things in 2024.
8. Jim Beam RTD
2023: 6.6m
2022: 6.3m
% change: 4.8%
Place last year: NA
An RTD for this year’s World Whisky Brand Champion was sure to be a success – its sales were up by nearly 5% to a whopping 6.6m cases. In late 2023, the brand’s owner Suntory Global Spirits said it was focusing on premium RTDs – watch this space.
7. New Mix
2023: 10m
2022: 9.1m
% change: 10%
Place last year: 6
Cracking the 10m-case milestone for the first time last year was Brown-Forman brand New Mix, following an impressive 10% growth on the previous year. In the firm’s financial results for the year ending 30 April 2024, it reported that New Mix sales were up by 17%.
New Mix features El Jimador Tequila in classic cocktails, such as the Paloma, and launched in Mexico more than two decades ago.
6. Horoyoi
2023: 11.2m
2022: 12m
% change: -6.6%
Place last year: 5
Horoyoi is a canned chu-hi beverage owned by Suntory Global Spirits with an alcohol content of 3% ABV. The brand has been on a downward spiral since 2022, when its volume sales fell by 11.6%. Falling by a further 6.6% in 2023 means the brand sold just over 11m cases.
5. Jack Daniel’s RTDs (excluding Country Cocktails)
2023: 11.2m
2022: 11.3m
% change: -1.2%
Place last year: 4
With Jack Daniel’s & Cola and Country Cocktails excluded from the brand’s RTDs figures, sales managed to remain almost the same, falling by 1.2% to 11.2m cases. With the cola product, the range includes Jack Daniel’s Honey & Lemonade and Jack Daniel’s Apple Fizz. The spirit used in the latter saw its sales rise by 33% in parent firm Brown-Forman’s recent financial results, which could see its RTD grow this year.
4. Suntory Lemon Sour
2023: 20.4m
2022: 18.0m
% change: 13.3%
Place last year: NA
Suntory Global Spirits’ Lemon Sour product was one of three brands in this list to experience double-digit growth last year, rising by 13.3% to sell more than 20m cases for the first time. The Lemon Sour serve is common in Japanese restaurants and bars, with the RTD offering the nation’s beloved drink on the go.
3. High Noon
2023: 21.4m
2022: 16.4m
% change: 30.5%
Place last year: 3
Gallo-owned High Noon grew its volume by 30.5%, earning its spot as the RTD Brand Champion for the second year running.
In January this year, data from Impact Databank revealed High Noon was the biggest-selling spirits brand by volume in the US in 2023. The brand had taken this title from Tito’s Handmade Vodka in 2022, and managed to hold on to it for a second year.
It’s been a busy 12 months for Gallo, with its spirits arm acquiring canned-cocktail brand Fishers Island Lemonade in May 2023. At the time, West described the product as “one of the highest-quality and best-tasting canned cocktails in the market”. It has also recently announced a range of vodka-based iced teas.
2. -196
2023: 27.8m
2022: 27.3m
% change: 2.1%
Place last year: 12
Growing by 2.1%, Suntory Global Spirits’ RTD brand -196 made its way into the top 10 biggest-selling spirits in the world list for the first time in 2023. The brand declined in 2020 and 2022, with its 2023 figure matching its sales in 2021.
1. White Claw
2023: 56.6m
2022: 59.0m
% change: -4.0%
Place last year: 1
Maintaining its spot as the world’s biggest RTD and the second biggest-selling spirits brand is hard seltzer brand White Claw. Despite this, the brand’s volume sales fell by 4% last year, marking its second year of decline following five years of unprecedented growth.
In 2023, it diversified with a vodka and a Tequila-based drink, but 2024 has seen it double down on its hard seltzer offering, adding two new flavours.