- This guide is for brand managers, commercial directors, and strategy teams at drinks producers – breweries, distilleries, wine estates, and spirits groups – who are either building an RTD strategy for the first time or evaluating an existing one. It is relevant whether you are a large producer with distribution infrastructure already in place, or a smaller independent deciding whether RTD belongs in your portfolio at all.
- What it covers: the RTD category’s current size and trajectory (confirmed from IWSR primary data); the critical strategic distinction between spirits-based and malt-based RTDs; why RTD requires a separate brand strategy rather than a line extension approach; how to build for the right consumer and occasion; the channel decisions that determine commercial success; and the specific actions your team needs to take before entering or expanding in the category.
- What it does not cover: product formulation or production specifics. The focus throughout is commercial strategy – market positioning, consumer targeting, channel selection, and portfolio architecture.
- Primary sources: IWSR global data release June 2026 (theiwsr.com); IWSR RTD Strategic Study 2025 (theiwsr.com, October 2025); IWSR US Navigator 2025 (theiwsr.com, May 2026); IWSR 10-year global forecast June 2026; AB InBev Q2 2026 press release (ab-inbev.com, 30 July 2026); Molson Coors Q2 2026 press release (ir.molsoncoors.com, 6 August 2026); Heineken HY 2026 press release (theheinekencompany.com, 5 August 2026); WSWA SipSource June 2026 (wswa.org, 4 August 2026); Nick Gillett (Managing Director, Mangrove Global) LinkedIn, 2 July 2026; Luke Tegner (Global Head of Consulting, IWSR) IWSR.com, May 2026.
RTDs grew in 2025. Every other major beverage alcohol category declined. Beer fell. Wine fell. Spirits fell. RTDs – the only major category to post volume growth – grew 3% globally and overtook vodka in total global value for the first time. IWSR’s June 2026 data release confirmed global RTD consumption hit 1 billion nine-litre cases for the first time in 2025, and the 10-year forecast points to a further +17% volume growth through 2035. Luke Tegner, IWSR’s global head of consulting, said it plainly: “This opportunity is simply too big to ignore.”
Most drinks producers have heard some version of that story. The harder question – the one this guide is built around – is what to actually do about it. Because the RTD category rewards specific, deliberate decisions about consumer targeting, occasion strategy, sub-format, and channel. Brands that treat RTD as a line extension of an existing product, or build a strategy around the consumer they wish were buying rather than the one who actually is, tend to find the category harder than the growth numbers suggest it should be.
The RTD market in 2026 – what the data actually says
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