The Alcohol Industry in 2025 Is Quietly Changing Direction

After catching up on the latest round of industry news, there’s a clear feeling that something in the drinks world is shifting. Not in a dramatic, headline-grabbing way, but in small details you notice on the street, in new product announcements, or in casual conversations behind the bar. When you start piecing these signals together, you realize that the alcohol landscape in 2025 isn’t quite the same as it was a few years ago.

"It’s not a sudden turn—more like the kind where you read story after story and think, “Hmm… the market is definitely drifting somewhere else.”

Sustainability, for example, used to sit more on the branding side of things. This year, it feels different.

Harriet Evans, co-founder of Penrhos Spirits in the UK, mentioned that switching from glass to recycled aluminum bottles didn’t just reduce carbon footprint—it changed their logistics, costs, and packaging efficiency altogether. Cases like this are popping up everywhere. Brands aren’t just “following the sustainability trend” anymore; they’re reorganizing their supply chains around it.

Meanwhile, several start-ups have begun pushing “product passports,” offering full transparency around sourcing and production. Sustainability is no longer a slogan—it’s becoming the groundwork for how the industry moves forward. The overall direction is clear: lighter, clearer, more efficient.

On the product side, both established names and emerging brands have become noticeably more adventurous.

Johnnie Walker’s limited collaboration with fashion designer Robert Wun, Copper & Kings’ full portfolio overhaul, Last Drop’s first-ever tequila release, and Pantalones Extra Añejo all signal a wave of portfolio reshaping.

RTDs, on the other hand, show no signs of slowing down. El Jimador’s new RTD line has landed in the US, and Diageo launched a ready-to-serve Lemon Drop Martini—blurring the line between convenience and true cocktail character.

And then there’s flavor.

Monin predicts that “swicy”—the sweet-meets-spicy profile—will dominate in 2026. It’s a hybrid flavor direction that mirrors younger drinkers’ appetite for boldness, heat, and a sense of adventure.

Taken together, these launches point toward a clear trend: spirits are no longer standing still. They’re leaning into stronger sensory impact and new expressions of identity.

IWSR’s latest forecast shows a decline in global alcohol consumption this year—unsurprising given inflationary pressure, cautious spending, and rising health consciousness. South Africa’s off-premise market is seeing similar headwinds.

But not every category is shrinking.
Wine, for instance, is showing signs of recovery. Improved weather conditions in several regions and a steady demand for premium wines may help global production stabilize and even rebound.

The market isn’t collapsing—it’s reorganizing. Lower-priced, quick-turnover products are climbing; premium tiers have loyal followers; and the mid-range is leaning more heavily on storytelling and experience to stay relevant.

Another noticeable shift is that brands are no longer competing only on product quality—they’re competing through culture.
Heineken’s limited collaboration with French designer Axel Chay is a perfect example. The bottle becomes an art object. Johnnie Walker and Copper & Kings are also leaning heavily into visual identity and contextual storytelling.

The message is pretty clear:
The meaning of alcohol is expanding beyond what’s inside the bottle.

Brands are competing not just on ingredients, but on the worldviews they project.

At the recently concluded World’s 50 Best Bars 2025, the momentum was especially clear. Bars from Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, and Tokyo delivered standout performances—each showcasing its own rhythm, identity, and sense of place.

Asia isn’t just participating anymore—it’s becoming one of the regions setting the pace for how the global bar scene evolves.

Coterie Holdings’ acquisition of Hong Kong’s Links Concept, Seed Library NYC’s new menu, and Double Chicken Please's revival of its “Liquid Dinners” concept all point toward a bar scene that isn’t slowing down but branching outward.

In North America, the Global Bar Report highlights tech-driven menus, no- and low-alcohol cocktails, and food-pairing-driven programs as ongoing areas of growth.
Put all of this together, and bars today function less like traditional drinking venues and more like cultural laboratories, social spaces, and expressions of lifestyle.

The no- and low-alcohol segment also saw notable movement.
Chanrossa’s acquisition of Feragaia signals that this category has matured to the point of consolidation, not experimentation.

RTDs continue to expand aggressively—from tequila-based formats to whiskey-style mixes, new flavors, new designs, and new consumption occasions. What once lived solely in convenience stores now comfortably appears on bar menus and in restaurant programs.

And then there’s “Big Flavour Energy”—that high-impact, cross-cultural flavor direction appearing simultaneously in non-alcoholic drinks, RTDs, spirits, and even craft cocktails.
It’s evolving into a shared beverage language and, in many ways, the aesthetic of a generation.

From packaging to flavor, from markets to the bar scene, the shifts we’re seeing this year aren’t isolated trends—they form a broader realignment.
Brands are thinking longer-term, consumers are becoming more intentional, and both retail and hospitality are searching for new value propositions.

There’s no big announcement declaring a new era, but when you line up all these signals, the direction becomes unmistakable:

The alcohol industry in 2025 is indeed turning a corner.

And maybe—when we look back a year from now—we’ll see that this was where the next chapter quietly began.

Sources: Drinks Intel, The Spirits Business, Eater, Chilled Magazine