Whitebox Cocktails, the UK RTD cocktail business, is adding the US to its roster of international markets.
The company is moving to enter 12 US states through importer Lighthouse Brands.
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Whitebox Cocktails is offering up a range of RTD including its Spicy Marg and Pocket Negroni drinks. Each 100ml RTD is priced at $4.99.
The Scotland-based business, set up in 2021, now operates in eight international markets, including Canada, the Netherlands and the UAE.
Co-founder Josh Rennie said: “We’ve wanted to build Whitebox in the US for some time, but it was important to do it in the right way. We now have a portfolio of cocktails with a proven track record internationally and the right partners in place to start building the brand here.”
Whitebox Cocktails makes its RTDs at its production facility in Edinburgh and ships to each of its international markets including the US.
“Because the products act more like spirits than typical RTDs, we have the shelf life, storage and the shipping efficiencies to distribute everything out of our factory and working with a co-manufacturer in the US would increase our costs,” Rennie told Just Drinks.
Rennie said the US push is centred on “wholesale distribution, state by state”. He added: “While we believe we will have immediate success in the off-trade, our wholesalers will equally be able to sell into the on-trade and we see the potential for a mixture of both on and off trade like we have in the UK.”
New figures released by the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (NABCA) show cocktails as one of the only growing segments in the US spirits market.
While overall US spirits sales in control states dropped by more than 5% in August, the cocktail category, led by RTDs, continued to thrive with sales up 8.4% to $50.7m on a 12.4% increase in case sales to 669,419.
Over the 12 months to the end of August, cocktails sales increased 21.2% to $495.9m. Case sales climbed 21.3% to just over 6 million cases.
Notably, Moth, a fellow UK RTD business, is also expanding in the US.
It raised £11m (then $14.7m) in July to support domestic growth and deepen its US presence, where it is sold in Florida, Illinois, and California.
“We are currently laser-focused on our neighbourhood strategy to drive velocity and the blueprint for scale within those states and cities,” Moth said at the time. “However, we are, of course, looking and learning at other states.”
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Constellation Brands acquired US RTD brand SpikedAde in a deal valued at up to $353m, which includes a performance-contingent payout. SpikedAde competes in the emerging “ade” drink category, blending sports-style flavours with a vodka base.
