Recently, custom beverage development company Flavorman published its annual beverage trends predictions for 2025. Based on findings collated from clients, consumers, and industry insiders, Flavorman says to expect a global focus on tropical fruit flavours such as banana, mango, dragon fruit, papaya, and coconut; along with an expansion into international spices and herbs.

Additionally, Flavorman also anticipates a shift in consumer interest towards increased ingredient transparency, with consumers taking a closer look at ingredients and associated health claims.

“I think better-for-you is the present and it's the future - I don't think that will ever go away,” Clean Collective Co-Founder Holly McGrath told Drinks Trade.

“More and more people are just becoming more nutritionally conscious and aware. It's an expectation now.”

Recently launching into Australia after seven years in the NZ market, Clean Collective strikes a point of difference by displaying ingredients and nutritional information on each of its RTDs, a move McGrath says “comes down to consumers now wanting transparency and honesty from the brands and wanting to know exactly what's in the products they're consuming.

“Traditionally, most [liquor] products didn't display a nutritional panel - That's not actually a legal requirement… We always thought that was really bizarre.”

Supporting Flavorman's predictions, the latest CGA by NIQ Global Cocktail Report found that 32% of cocktail consumers globally believe it is more important than it was 12 months ago that their drink is healthy.

The CGA report also outlined that Australian on-premise consumption remains especially high among younger generations, thus presenting opportunity. Around 31% of Gen-Z in Australia and New Zealand currently choose to drink cocktails when in venue, a statistic that becomes more important when taking into account that younger Australian consumers are currently going out more often than before.

As it stands, 70% of both Gen Z and Millennial consumers say they prefer different drinks at bars and restaurants to home, compared to 40% of Gen X and 31% of Boomers, often driven by a desire for more experiential occasions.

“In line with their quest for experiences, we also note the high proportion of these younger consumers who prefer different drinks at bars/restaurants compared to home,” said Marco Silva, Customer Success Director at NIQ.

“This suggests that On-Premise consumption/visitation plays a more unique and differentiated role in their lives than it does for older consumers, making it less replicable at home and could be one of the reasons why many young consumers are either going out as much as before or even more often despite the higher cost-of-living.”

CGA by NIQ also believes that venues should be striving towards offering authentic and engaging experiences, a message reflected by Holly McGrath.

“We obviously have a cost of living crisis at the moment, so young people can't spend or don't want to spend all their money, so I think [it’s about] finding a middle point, and if you feel like you have the quality ingredients and that authentic brand to back it up, you can charge a little bit more,” she told Drinks Trade.

“If you're just a brand that jumps on every single trend, then again, there's no authenticity there. People can kind of see through that.”

Drinks Trade also asked Curatif’s Co-Founder and Director Matt Sanger about trends he sees emerging in 2025.

“I got asked this question at the start of the year, and we called out a couple of flavours that we thought were going to be massive this year. Peach was one, coconut was another. Peach has certainly hit in that RTD space, and I think coconut will still do its time," he said."

“I think, for the trends for next year, any guess that I put forward will probably be wrong. I think it's going to be whatever captures the heart of the people in the moment.”

//

On-premise RTD consumption is on the rise. Here’s how venues should adapt

This year, Vodka once again dominated on-prem sales. We asked distillers what they’re looking for

Share the content