Alcohol-free and RTDs outperform spirits in US retail
Sales of spirits in the US off-trade saw their volume and value drop in January 2026, while alcohol-free and ready-to-drink products soared.
Off-premise data from NielsenIQ’s (NIQ) Retail Measurement for the four weeks ending 31 January 2026 reported a value drop of 2.8% for spirits sales and a volume decrease of 1.3% compared to the same period last year.
Out of all alcohol categories, spirits was the only segment to experience a value sales loss in the four-week period. In comparison, beer was up by 0.9% in value but down by 0.4% in volume.
Meanwhile, wine saw an uptick of 0.3% and a volume dip of 1.4%.
The ‘prepared cocktails’ category, which includes ready-to-drink (RTD) products, grew by 8.8% in value and by 3% in volume.
Total alcohol sales for the four weeks were up by 0.6% in value but down slightly in volume, by 0.2%.
In the four weeks ending 31 January, spirits sales were impacted by declines for categories such as vodka, whisky and Tequila.
Whisky led the downturn, falling by 4% in value and by 3.1% in volume, followed by vodka, which was down by 1.4% in value and by 0.6% in volume.
Tequila decreased by 1.7% in dollar sales, but its volumes rose by 2%.
In contrast, the ‘all other’ segment rose by 7.2% in value and by 17.7% in volume, driven by alcohol-free ‘spirits’ (up 24.6% in value). This subcategory also includes brandy, Cognac, cordials (liqueurs), gin, grain alcohol and rum.
Spirits-based cocktails continued to lead RTD growth in January, rising by 34.2% in dollar sales and by 36.4% in volume.
Wine-based cocktails also grew, increasing by 27.5% in value and by 24.3% in volume. In contrast, losses for flavoured malt beverages/seltzers softened, with declines slowing to 1.5% in dollar sales and down by 3.5% in volume.
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