Growth for hard seltzers has either significantly slowed or leveled off, depending who you ask. They’re just the latest category in the beverage industry to explode in terms of sales and number of SKUs, only to fizzle out within a couple of years. So what category will breakout next, taking hard seltzer’s place on everyone’s “top trends” list? The top contender at the moment seems to be RTDs, although zero-proof and CBD beverages are starting to make a strong case too.
Regardless of which category ultimately wins out, there’s a huge variety of new products encroaching on beer’s traditional domain. They have ABVs that allow for sales across all license types, are priced and packaged like beers, and fit into drinking occasions where beer dominates the conversation. How will that impact brewers? Our fall issues will focus on the beer category, answering that question and more.
