Brian Sudano

Traditional beverage alcohol categories have seen analysts declare doom and gloom or sky high success, but reflection suggest the sun will shine on these categories again.

Much has been written about the acceleration of declines in beer during 2025 along with spirit ready-to-drink (RTD) growth and wine softness; however, the outperformance of alternative adult beverages is giving rise to a differentiated market.

Although new brand failure rates remain high, over the past decade, most leading new products have not emerged through brand extensions. A few big companies have found success, yet most standouts were entrepreneurial ventures. 

While the alternative adult beverages market grew by 7.5% a year or 426% in total since 2002, the total beer market has declined more than 5% in total during this period. This disparity underscores the macro movement to these flavored forward, more modern products.