A trend toward an increased demand for spiked or alcoholic slushies started to grow during the COVID-19 pandemic amid lockdowns when customers turned to convenience stores for ready-to-drink cocktails for home consumption.
“Frozen alcoholic blended beverages continue to be a consumer favorite,” noted Mike Kostyo, associate director and trendologist for Datassential. “America’s favorite cocktail is the margarita, which of course is often served frozen. According to our most recent data on to-go cocktails fielded this summer, 90% of consumers who drink alcohol would order cocktails to go, with or without food, so there is still a clear demand.”
The numbers have only increased since 2021, Kostyo said.
“When it comes to frozen cocktails specifically, 67% of consumers who drink alcohol would order them to go, a 3% increase from 2021. The numbers are even higher for millennials, with 70% of that generation saying they would order them,” he added.
It’s no wonder convenience stores are seeing an opportunity to add alcoholic beverages to their frozen dispensed offering.
York, Pa.-based Rutter’s, which has 82 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia, offers spiked slushies at select locations in a 20-ounce cup, 64-ounce spiked Frosé party bag and a 128-ounce spiked slushie party bag. Customers of legal drinking age can order the spiked slushies at the counter.
GetGo Café + Market, which operates more than 260 sites in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana, introduced spiked slushies at a number of stores back in 2019. Today it offers spiked slushies at more than 45 locations across Pennsylvania and Ohio. Each store features two to six flavor options, including those offered every day and limited-time-only flavors available in 20-ounce and 32-ounce cups and a 64-ounce party bag. Like Rutter’s, GetGo keeps the spiked slushies behind the service counter, where employees pour the beverages to ensure underaged guests can’t access the product.
Country Fair, with more than 70 c-stores in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio, offers adult slushies in 20-ounce, 32-ounce and 64-ounce options, with flavors including Seagram’s Spiked Jamaican Me Happy and Steel Reserve Spiked Blue Razz.
Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven has noted the consumer desire for alcoholic slushies, and on its website offers customers “Hard Slurpee” recipes.
Other chains, including The PRIDE Stores with 15 locations in Chicagoland and one in Indiana, are evaluating the offering for its future potential.
“We are considering selling frozen adult beverages, but at this time we have other projects we are focusing on,” noted Nicolette Jaeger, The PRIDE Stores’ director of merchandising and loyalty.
Of course, before jumping on the spiked slushie trend, c-stores must first consider the alcohol laws in the areas in which they operate to see if frozen cocktails would be an option for their stores.
Opportunity for C-Stores
Consumers’ biggest pain point when it comes to frozen adult beverages to go is that they are afraid they’ll be melted or watered down by the time they get them home or wherever they are drinking them, noted Kostyo.
“C-stores should look for opportunities to solve for that issue, whether that’s through packaging or the simple fact that a c-store may be a lot closer and more convenient for the consumer, so there is less time between purchase and consumption for the drink to melt,” he added.
C-stores should also consider the wide range of flavors consumers favor in frozen drinks, Kostyo said.
“If you are going to have a frozen cocktail available, you have to have a margarita — possibly in a variety of flavors or with add-ins — because consumers love them so much,” he added. “But also look to trending options like a boozy mangonada or a frozen take on ranch water, which are two of the fastest-growing drinks on menus.”
Another option for c-stores that restaurants can’t typically offer is cocktail kits that include a small “airplane” bottle of alcohol with the ingredients for a drink, which could be made with the non-alcoholic frozen beverages and slushies a c-store already has on hand, said Kostyo.
Margaritas are key when it comes to frozen blended beverages, Kostyo pointed out.
“That includes both the traditional lime margarita, which 56% of consumers love or like, and the strawberry margarita, which 50% of consumers love or like,” he said. “After that, daiquiris are also key, both in lime and strawberry varieties.”
“Frozen takes on other consumer favorites — sangrias and mojitos are also great options. Frozen blended beverages are obviously often associated with summer and hot weather, so using summery fruit flavors like berries and citrus is key,” Kostyo said.
That doesn’t mean c-stores should shy away from those favorites later in the year, particularly as fall flavors tend to be launched when it’s still hot out, Kostyo said.
“Crafting creamy or unique frozen beverages using flavors like pumpkin spice, s’more, apple, cranberry, chai, maple and cinnamon can resonate with consumers who increasingly prefer cold beverages over hot,” he added.
According to the Datassential “2022 SIP Report: Alcohol To Go,” more consumers than ever are interested in ordering iced or frozen cocktails to go, as shown on the chart below.
Also, Datassential’s “2022 Future of Drink Report” indicates 71% of consumers who drink alcohol are interested in boozy frozen desserts, 67% are interested in frozen wine slushies and 64% are interested in boozy milkshakes, pointing to a big opportunity for c-store retailers.