Putting on the Spritz

From the rapid rise of RTDs and rosé’s unstoppable success, to celebrating the summer of the spritz, it’s been an eventful 12 months for UK retailers on the drinks front. Lucy Shaw speaks to industry leaders across beers, wines and spirits to get the lowdown on the latest trends.

There’s no sugar-coating it – the last year hasn’t been easy for the drinks industry, which has faced a barrage of headwinds, from stricter public health messaging and a move towards moderation, to tax hikes, ongoing trade disputes and high operating costs. Needing to be nimble and think on their feet, the heads of BWS across the UK’s major retailers have had to respond quickly to these challenges and tweak their offerings to reflect changing consumer behaviour. But while times may be tough, there have been plenty of success stories within the drinks retail landscape of late, and merchants who have listened to their customers and adapted to the current climate have been rewarded for their efforts.

When it comes to wine, the key trends across the major multiples mirror the wider drinking trends going on around the globe. Rosé in all its guises has been one of the bright spots within the wine category, with consumers snapping it up year-round rather than relegating it to a summer drink. At Waitrose shoppers are seeking out premium expressions from leading labels such as Provence’s Whispering Angel and Bijou from the Languedoc. Josh Heley, Aldi’s wine buying director, describes rosé as “the gift that keeps on giving”, and says its growth shows “no signs of slowing”, with the retailer shifting 30,000 bottles a week of its Petit Poulet Rosé from the South of France. “Our three most successful wines in 2025 were rosés,” Heley reveals.

Voyage of discovery

With customers demanding more bang for their buck, retailers are going to greater lengths to sniff out wines from lesser-known regions and more under-the-radar grape varieties to deliver incredible quality for the price. In 2024 Asda relaunched its Wine Atlas range with a Mediterranean theme, which is going great guns. Among the wines is a Corsican rosé, a Carricante from Sicily, and a Fetească Regală from Romania. “We’re so proud of the range,” says Asda’s BWS manager Kirsty Simpson. “The labels are beautiful and the wines offer our customers something a bit different.” At Waitrose the Loved & Found range is going from strength to strength, with its Feteasca Alba Brut, a sparkling white from Moldova, among the best-sellers. “People trust the brand so are happy to roll the dice,” says head of BWS, Pierpaolo Petrassi MW. Sainsbury’s, meanwhile, has expanded its Discovery range to include a Roussette de Savoie and a Loire Blanc de Blanc “to drive growth as customers trade up”.

Reflecting the global trend towards lighter, more approachable styles, chillable reds are on the rise at the Co-op, with their buying team seeing them as a great gateway wine “to bring younger shoppers into the category and migrate them through their wine journey”. Orange wine is also enjoying its moment in the sun at retail, with Aldi’s ‘Rosorange’ hybrid, which fuses the personality of an orange wine with the freshness of a rosé, among its top-selling wines in 2025. Sparkling wines – particularly value alternatives to Champagne – are top of the pops at retail as shoppers start to seek out traditional method styles like Crémant that offer exceptional value for money.

For Caroline Thompson-Hill, head of BWS at M&S, it’s the intersection of the rosé and sparkling wine trends where the real success stories lie. “We sell disproportionally more rosé Prosecco than standard Prosecco, and our rosé Crémant is doing really well,” she says, flagging up English still rosé as an exciting growth area, with expressions from Balfour and Denbies leading the charge. “We’re seeing a thirst for rosé across various categories right now,” she says. Ocado is also experiencing “fantastic growth” within the English category. “We used English Wine Week as a chance to hero our English wine range and add to it with new styles and producers,” says BWS trading manager, Vanessa Pearson.

Fizzing with promise

On the spirits front, 2025 was the summer of the spritz both in the on-trade and at retail, where shoppers moved beyond the tried-and-tested Aperol Spritz to ready-to-drink versions of newer twists like the elderflower-laced Hugo Spritz and the zesty Limoncello Spritz. Capitalising on the trend, Ocado released its own blood orange-flavoured spritz called Sarti. “The spritz trend has really taken off, it’s been quite phenomenal,” says Pearson. “People are seeking out flavour extensions of what you’d classify as a traditional spritz.” Influencers on TikTok have played their part in creating a buzz around new spritz serves. “Our canned Hugo Spritz and Limoncello Spritz are out-selling our classic G&T, which is wild,” says Thompson-Hill of M&S. RTD cocktails are also going gangbusters at Aldi, where twists on classics like the spicy Margarita and smoked pineapple Daiquiri are proving a hit with shoppers. At Waitrose, ready to serve bottled cocktails are in high demand, with classic pours such as the Espresso Martini and Vesper Martini offering cocktail lovers bar-quality drinks at home.

In beer, minimising food waste has been central to the category of late, with Aldi partnering with Toast Brewing in 2025 to create an IPA made from surplus stocks of its tiger bread and Ocado teaming up with sustainable craft brewery Beyond Belief Brewing Co. to stock its range of beers made from surplus fresh pasta. Quirky flavours are also proving popular within the category – Asda’s Sticky Toffee Pudding Stout, made by St. Ives Brewery in Cornwall, is flying off the shelves. Keen to champion local heroes, last summer the Co-op started stocking a new lager called Sun & Stone from Palestine’s Taybeh Brewing Co., made in partnership with Brewgooder by the country’s only female brewer, Madees Khoury. “This isn't to move into the political landscape or have a view, but to be an organisation that can stand behind decisions like that,” according to Co-op’s BWS buying team.

Everything in moderation

As younger consumers continue to want to drink less but better, the moderation trend has led UK retailers to up their game on the no and low-alcohol front. M&S has been selling double the amount forecast of its alcohol-free Piña Colada RTD and Aperitivo Spritz, while established 0% ABV brands like Mother Root and Botivo are leading the charge at Ocado. Keen to stay on top of the trend, Asda has nearly doubled its no and low-alcohol offering over the last year. “The biggest trend in BWS right now is moderation, so we needed to make sure that we had the right customer offer within our no and low range,” says BWS manager Kirsty Simpson, who has noticed a marked rise in quality across the board within the nolo category. Sainsbury’s has also upped its nolo game, adding to it with an alcohol-free Blackcurrant Spritz within its Taste the Difference range and expanding its mid-strength wine offering.

Championing wines that tread lightly in terms of their impact on the planet has been another big trend in retail, with merchants committing to significant sustainability goals, from reducing the weight of the glass bottles they stock to shipping certain wines in bulk and bottling them in the UK. At Waitrose, in-store cork collection points have led to the recycling of several tonnes of cork, while Aldi has moved to what Josh Heley calls “naked corks” across its range, saving 38 tonnes in packaging by removing the capsules from its bottles. “Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do,” Heley says. “We’re pushing hard for lighter-weight bottles and were the first retailer to put a 300g Bordeaux bottle on our shelves.” As consumers become more open-minded to packaging alternatives to glass, retailers are embracing more eco-friendly formats, from Aldi’s Costellore Pinot Grigio in an aluminium bottle, to Asda’s canned wine brand Pica Pica, which proved a summer smash in the stands at Wimbledon. 

We live in interesting times, and it remains to be seen whether the changes occurring in the drinks industry right now are cyclical adjustments or seismic shifts. But with challenges come opportunities, and the UK’s leading retailers are proving agile in their ability to respond to changing consumer demands with innovative new products catering to evolving drinking preferences. From upping their no and low ranges to expanding their offerings from the wine world’s more unsung regions and grape varieties in order to provide both quality and value, retailers have proved remarkably resilient and swift to respond to emerging trends with releases that hit the mark both on the style and the substance front. Whether they’re scouring the globe to keep their shelves stocked with rosé all year round, or going to greater lengths to find value alternatives to Champagne for those wanting to pop their cork without breaking the bank, retailers are really listening to what their customers want and are delivering the goods quickly and with aplomb.

To find out more about supermarkets drinks trends, read the results from the recent IWSC National Drinks Retail Awards 2026.

The IWSC’s 2026 National Drinks Retail Awards are proudly sponsored by:

Pommery - Exclusive Champagne Partner & Sponsor of the Sustainable Supermarket Trophy
Bibendum Off-Trade - Sponsor of the brand-new Outstanding Supermarket Wine Range Trophy
The Standard 1894 Vodka - Exclusive Vodka Partner & Sponsor of the Classic Supermarket Trophy
Wines of Tejo - Branding Sponsor & Red/White Wine Supplier