Don’t shake or stir: drinks firms push bottled cocktails...

and real craftmanship drinkers get in a bar, said Igor Zukowiec, founder of New York catering and mixology company Alchemiq.

“It takes away a little of the magic of bartending,” he said.

Bottled cocktails steal market share from beer and wine, three industry executives from Diageo, Pernod Ricard and Beam Suntory told Reuters. Some consumers have defaulted to wine and beer in the past because they don’t have the confidence, time or ingredients to mix a cocktail, two of the executives said.

The festive period is a key time of year to establishing a foothold in the fast-growing “ready-to-serve” cocktail market, they added. Major drinks companies have invested in holiday-themed marketing and advertising for their products.

Diageo, which makes Tanqueray gin and Johnnie Walker whisky, wants to become the market-leader in the category, its brand director Nikhil Shah said.

The company has set up sampling stations in stores and also promoted its range for the holidays via advertisements, influencer activities and events. It will add a new cocktail to its range in February, Shah said.

The opportunity is sizeable.

“Ready-to-drink” alcohol, which also spans things like canned cocktails and hard seltzers, is predicted to be worth $21.1 billion in the United States alone by 2027, according to IWSR Drinks Markets Analysis.

That is up from $18.2 billion today, with the rise largely reflecting growth of more premium, expensive products and cocktails and long drinks.

That could accelerate a shift away from drinks like beer and wine in the United States, which have long dominated moments when drinkers want an easy tipple.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and other public health groups are turning their attention to alcohol after making gains in highlighting ill health caused by cigarettes. The WHO says alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 diseases and conditions, including some cancers, liver cirrhosis and cardiovascular diseases. It has called for higher taxes globally.

Large bottles of pre-mixed drinks like Margarita or Pina Colada have made up the bulk of the “ready-toserve” category for some time.

Pernod and Diageo’s bottled cocktails, launched in the United States in August and October respectively, are pricier. Pernod’s Glenlivet Old Fashioned typically trades at $16.99 for a 375 milliliter bottle.

But overcoming consumer expectations that bottled cocktails sacrifice quality for quantity will be a challenge. Right now, the category is lagging.

U.S. unit sales of “ready-to-serve” cocktails grew just 0.1% versus last year in the 52 weeks to Dec. 2, data from market researcher NIQ showed. There was an uptick during the holidays, with sales up 2.2% in the four weeks to Dec. 2, versus a decline of 2.6% last year.

But growth for certain types of cocktail was exploding by both measures, according to the data, with Bloody Mary, Martini and Negroni leading the charge.

Ready made cocktails provide venues without enough resources for full-blown mixology a way to offer a cocktail menu, said Lynnette Marrero, a New York-based mixologist who recently launched a line of bottled cocktails, Delola.

The category is growing fast, taking up more shelf space and also picking up in channels like airlines, which have historically only offered wine, beer or seltzers, said Zach Poelma, SVP of Supplier Strategy & Insights at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, a top U.S. spirits distributor.

Jim Beam whiskey maker Beam Suntory, the only large player to offer a bottled cocktail range in 2020, saw it grow by 70% last year, said Jessica Spence, its president of North America.

The company, currently the market leader, plans to fend off competition by crafting new, localised cocktail mixes aimed at quickly meeting differing regional trends, she said.