Overview: Convenience and value continue to shape innovation across the drinks industry, with brands introducing larger formats and multi-serve options designed to fit more easily into everyday routines. Manufacturers are adapting formats to encourage repeat purchase and at-home consumption while health and wellness remain key growth drivers.
The Full Story
Premiumisation is also influencing activity across alcoholic drinks, with producers focusing on craftsmanship, provenance and distinctive production methods. Alongside these trends, sustainability and supply chain transparency remain important themes. Brands are placing greater emphasis on responsible sourcing, environmental commitments and closer control of production processes as consumers demand more visibility into how products are made.
MadTree Brewing and High Bank Distillery have partnered to launch Sway Apple Pomegranate, a limited-edition ready-to-drink (RTD) vodka cocktail now available across Ohio and Kentucky. The collaboration brings together MadTree’s Sway RTD platform and High Bank’s award-winning vodka, while highlighting the companies’ shared focus on sustainability and community investment.
Innocent has expanded its functional drinks range with the launch of new 420ml multi-serve dosing bottles, designed to give consumers a week’s worth of daily wellness shots in a single format. The move builds on the brand’s existing 60ml shot range and aims to make regular consumption more convenient while offering retailers a higher-value purchase option.
MOJU is expanding its UK functional shots portfolio with two new additions aimed at capitalising on growing demand for immunity-focused beverages and at-home consumption. Available from September 16, the launches include a new Elderberry Immunity blend and the brand’s largest Ginger Dosing Bottle to date, further strengthening its position in a category now worth over £105m and growing at a three-year CAGR of 47%.
Plenish has entered the flavoured plant-based milk category with its new Dark Cocoa and Sea Salt Almond Drink made using cocoa sourced through Tony’s OpenChain. Available from September via Ocado and the brand’s website, the launch marks Plenish’s first move into flavoured milks and comes as the segment reaches £19.2m in value, growing 12% year-on-year and outpacing the unflavoured market.
The Macallan has expanded its Time: Space Collection with Time: Space Sherry Cask, a 20-year-old single malt Scotch whisky that marks the first release influenced by casks seasoned with Valdespino sherry wine since the sherry producer came under The Macallan’s ownership.
Production & Profile
The Macallan TIME : SPACE Sherry Cask is bottled at 44.8% ABV and follows a two-stage cask journey. After maturing on The Macallan Estate in predominantly European oak sherry seasoned casks, supported by a smaller proportion of American oak, the whisky was married in a selection of the first 200 sherry casks seasoned in The Macallan’s Valdespino bodega in Jerez de la Frontera.
Sway Apple Pomegranate is packaged in 12oz cans and sold in four-packs, the cocktail contains 90 calories, 1g of carbohydrates, no added sugar and is gluten-free. Distilled with organic wheat and Ohio apples, High Bank Vodka was named World’s Best Vodka at the 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Brand & Industry History
The launch highlights the distiller’s growing control over its sherry seasoning supply chain, from cooperage and seasoning through to whisky maturation and marrying. Crafted in the company’s own cooperages and filled during The Macallan’s bicentenary year in 2024, the casks represent a significant milestone in the brand’s long-term sherry strategy.
What This Means
The launch underscores the environmental commitments of both businesses involved in the collaboration, with each company donating 1% of sales to local non-profit organisations. According to MadTree CEO Rhiannon Hoeweler, the collaboration aims to support initiatives such as tree planting, waterway protection and community projects.
Consumer Takeaway
Sway Apple Pomegranate is available at MadTree and High Bank locations, as well as selected retailers throughout Ohio and Kentucky. The seasonal release will remain on sale through the autumn period while stocks last. MOJU’s new Elderberry Immunity Dosing Bottle and XL Ginger Dosing Bottle are available from September 16. Plenish Dark Cocoa and Sea Salt Almond Drink is available from September via Ocado and the brand’s website.
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