‘People aren’t bringing the bottle’: Demand for convenience and affordability drives RTD hard seltzer growth in Asia Pacific

Since its founding in 2020, Everyday Weekend has rapidly expanded its presence in multiple markets in the Asia-Pacific region, from China to Indonesia, with markets particularly interested in ready-to-eat (RTD) beverages within the alcohol sector. I think there are.

“It’s really about convenience. A lot of consumers who go to a party or go on a boat trip would normally bring a bottle of vodka or something,” he said.Jeremy McLaughlin, founder and director of Everyday Weekend, said: FoodNavigator-Asia.

“But the problem with this is that you not only have to have a bottle of vodka, but you also have to have the mixer that comes with it and a lime, a knife and a board to cut limes and things like that.​

“And those days are over because people now want the convenience of branded, affordable premix products without having to carry around all those accessories just to have a delicious drink.” That’s the idea of ​​RTD. “​

When it comes to flavor diversity within the RTD alcohol category, fruity flavors continue to dominate overall, but Asia also has the additional requirement that the flavor profile and packaging appeal be creative and unusual.

“I think in Asia, everything that’s cool and new and bright and colorful is what’s primarily attracting attention in those markets.” he added.

“Right now, one of our biggest target markets is China, and these factors influence us even more, but we’re still trying to explain what hard seltzer actually is and why it’s not so sweet and unpleasant. , we also need to do more branding and marketing than some of our other competitors.​

“This is especially true when talking about important properties such as low sugar and 100% natural compared to artificial flavors and high sugar content.​

“So this is about where we sit in the market, why we sit in the market the same way we do, and why we are selling our products compared to our local competitors. It’s a great educational resource on why we recognize this as premium and why we take the flavor profile that we have,” instead of essentially candy water.” ”​

Combining all of these key drivers is key for the company, which is determined to position itself as a sustainable, long-term brand in the region, even when competing against harsher tastes like China. It has become a feature.

“A lot of the flavors here are sweeter, which really goes back to the education piece, but especially in China, where a lot of new brands come and go, you see a lot of local brands that are kind of off-putting,” he said.he said.

“We are also looking at other markets and have seen a lot of these seltzers and other similar beverages move into the functional beverage space. We want to focus on Asia as our core demographic and are currently planning to be more tailored to local tastes, which will arrive next year.”​

Watch the video above to learn more.