The nation’s youngest drinkers — those in Gen Z — cited red wine as the drink they most anticipate buying more of this year, according to a just-released study from Drizly. They also are more inclined to spend more on alcohol for certain occasions that their older cohorts. Millennials and Gen Z both are “miles ahead” of Gen X and Boomers when it comes to replacing traditional drinks with non-alcoholic versions. Chief reason: Healthier lifestyle. Surprise: That reason was cited more often by men than women.
The study also found that giving alcohol as a gift at any time, not just for a specific holiday, is becoming more common.
Asked what spirits they anticipate buying more of this year than last, 17% of respondents said they’ll reach for more tequila this year: a full 7 points higher than those who said they’d buy more American whiskey, which has been a longtime leader in the spirits category, and lagging vodka by just 1%. While vodka still holds a higher share of the spirits category on Drizly, tequila’s share of liquor sales has increased by 5 points over the past 3 years, while vodka’s share of liquor has declined by 8 points over the same period. What’s more, Drizly’s recent Retail Report found 80% of respondents planning to stock more tequila in 2022 – 40 points ahead of vodka.
At 43%, tequila-based ready-to-drink cocktails (a.k.a., canned cocktails, or RTDs) took the top spot among newer types of drinks that respondents are interested in trying. That outpaced other rising options like hard iced tea (35%) and hard kombucha (13%). There is potential for long-term growth with younger drinkers leading the charge. Nearly 70% of Gen Z respondents, along with 56% of Millennials, named tequila as their preferred spirit-base when shopping for RTD cocktails. Sales on Drizly paint the same picture, where margaritas have been the top-selling type of ready-to-drink cocktail over the past 5 years, and currently hold 20% share of overall RTD category sales.
More than one-third of those surveyed said that they are making fewer cocktails from scratch since they started drinking canned cocktails. And overall, a decisive 73% of respondents cited “home” as their most likely place to enjoy RTDs. The potential impact on home mixology looms large considering how fast the RTD cocktail category is growing. Last year saw a 170% increase in the number of RTD brands available on Drizly compared to 2019. During that same period, ready-to-drink cocktails captured 4% of overall liquor sales on Drizly, up from less than 1% in 2019
Some 22% of respondent said they anticipate buying more ready-to-drink cocktails this year compared to 2021. That’s slightly better than the 20% for hard seltzer. Lager came in at 11%, cider and IPA tied at 9% and ale was 8% in Drizly’s survey.
Asked why they were choosing to drink non-alcohol beverages rather than alcoholic beverages, Boomers ranked “like the taste” lowest (20%) among all generations when asked why they choose to drink non-alc. When asked why they are interested in non-alc drinks, “healthier lifestyle” led the way (44%), with men (49%) besting women (36%) in citing health as their primary motivation. While still relatively small, this category is growing rapidly. On Drizly, non-alcoholic spirits’ share of sales are up over 600% year-over-year, followed by non-alcoholic wine (300%). Sales of non-alc, beer, building off a larger base, have increased by 200% since 2020. Over 90% of Drizly’s retail partners now carry at least one non-alcoholic option.
