Resealable packages, smaller sizes and non-carbonated beverages are among the hot bev-alc trends Total Wine & More’s senior leadership team are watching in 2025.
Total Wine is the U.S.’s largest independent alcohol retailer with more than 275 large format stores, boasting a selection of 8,000 distinct wines, 5,000 spirits and 2,500 beers in a variety styles and price ranges.
“We thrive on finding that newness,” Andrea Starr, Total Wine’s senior director of merchandising for beer, hard beverage and hemp products, shared last week during a webinar. “What’s the next trend? What’s going to excite our customers, while maintaining a great selection of the perennial best sellers and what people would expect to find in our stores?”
Starr added that Total Wine shoppers are seeking “convenience, including smaller packages,” such as Sazerac-owned BuzzBallz or Anheuser-Busch-owned Cutwater Margaritas in 200 ml cans.
“Those smaller sizes do really well for us,” she said.
Resealable packages such as BeatBox’s line of party punches or New Belgium’s recently launched LightStrike refresher in 16.9 oz. plastic bottles show the retailer that customers are being more “mindful” about their consumption, Starr added. She expects more resealable packages to hit Total Wine shelves this year.
Non-carbonated products such as Surfside’s iced teas and lemonades and Molson Coors’ Happy Thursday “are really taking off,” Starr said.
“We were hearing that it’s more sessionable, easier to drink,” she said. “Seeing a lot of innovation in those areas as well.”
Spirits-based products also “continue to win” and is where “the growth [is] happening right now,” Starr said.
Brian Gelb, VP of wine and non-alcoholic (NA) beverage, added that the retailer’s “non-alcohol segments are on fire” as its customers are “moderating and being more mindful.” Those customers are not just buying NA beverages, as he estimated that “about 80% of our sales of non-alcoholic products are to customers that are also buying alcohol.”
Starr discussed the evolution of NA beverages from “analog replacements” of traditional alcoholic beverages to “functional products” that don’t look like “traditional alcoholic beverages, but are definitely an adult product,” with adaptogens, mushrooms and botanicals. Younger consumers “want their drinks to do something for them” after growing up on products such as Smartwater and Red Bull.
“They want the drink to do more for them, and we’re seeing those types of products out there,” she said.
The NA segment also ties into Total Wine’s low-dose THC-infused beverage business, Starr said.
“That’s something we’re hearing customer demand for,” she continued. “And while ensuring we’re in full compliance with local regulations, we want to bring those products to our customers.”
Celebrity-endorsed and -owned products continue to grow, with more famous people getting into the beer business. Starr said the products that have been most successful are the ones with celebrities who are “invested” in the product, such as Dax Shepard’s Ted Segers NA beer and the Kelce brothers’ Garage Beer.
Other notes from the webinar:
- The Super Bowl is among Total Wine’s biggest keg occasions of the year, especially in the home markets of the teams in the game;
- Total Wine’s senior leaders are expecting consumers to purchase premium, high-end items for this year’s game;
- A Surfside uptick is expected with the Philadelphia Eagles in the big game;
- The top items sold in Kansas City for last year’s Super Bowl included Boulevard, Crown Royal, Yuengling, Michelob Ultra and Cutwater, while in San Francisco it was Cutwater, Modelo, BuzzBallz, Coors and Corona;
- In spirits, additive-free tequila is growing, Michael Lowry, VP of global spirits sourcing, shared;
- Lowry added that nostalgic flavors are growing in tequila, from sweet, savory and spicy to tropical;
- Chocolate whiskey is on the way, and Lowry is watching value in bourbon, which is becoming a consumer’s market.