Raise The Bar Report: 5 Ways to Win in Beverage Alcohol – H2 2026 Edition

Raise the Bar img

(Click on the image above to view report.)

Brought to you by Southern Glazer's Commercial Intelligence team, Raise the Bar: H2 2026 Edition explores the forces reshaping beverage alcohol and the opportunities emerging across the industry. While the category continues to navigate both cyclical and structural shifts, the report finds signs of stabilization as consumers engage with beverage alcohol in new ways, fueling growth across ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails, wine cocktails, non-alcoholic beverages, tequila, smaller pack formats, and premium offerings.

Updated twice annually, Raise the Bar delivers concise, actionable insights designed to help suppliers, retailers, and industry leaders stay ahead of evolving consumer preferences and market dynamics. The report highlights key trends, category performance, growth opportunities, and strategic recommendations, supported by Southern Glazer's proprietary data and market intelligence.

The report identifies five opportunities shaping beverage alcohol in H2 2026 and beyond:

  • Courting the Next Generation: Gen Z is emerging as an important growth cohort, over-indexing in spirits and RTDs while also increasing its wine spend. Flavor, convenient formats and opportunities for lower-risk trial are helping bring younger legal-drinking-age consumers into categories in new ways. Variety packs, for example, are outperforming single-flavor packs across RTD cocktails and hard seltzers, while Gen Z shows a stronger preference than drinkers overall for berry-flavored beer on menus.

  • Formats and Drink Types Fueling Growth: Spirits RTDs now drive 94% of total spirits volume growth, while cocktails account for 92% of total wine growth. Smaller formats are also gaining ground as consumers seek convenience, affordability and easier ways to explore the category.

  • Owning the Moments That Matter: Consumers are changing when and where they drink, making it increasingly important for brands to connect with the occasions driving demand, from everyday consumption and social gatherings to cultural moments and on-premise discovery. Nearly half of consumers say bars and restaurants are the best place to try a new brand, reinforcing the on-premise as an important gateway to discovery.

  • The Barbell Advantage: As consumers navigate a K-shaped economy, growth opportunities are emerging at seemingly opposite ends of the category, from smaller formats and everyday value to premium products and elevated experiences. Rather than one dominant consumer behavior, the report points to a market where value and premiumization can coexist.

  • Winning the Moderation Consumer: The report finds that no-, low- and functional beverages are increasingly complementing traditional beverage alcohol rather than replacing it, creating opportunities for expanded occasions and baskets as consumers move between alcoholic and non-alcoholic choices throughout the year, not just January.