US-based Next Century Spirits has acquired a minority stake in canned cocktail producer Vide.

Founded in 2019 in New York, Vide's RTD portfolio features flavoured Tequila and vodka canned drinks Variants include watermelon, cranberry, mango and peach.

“Adding Next Century Spirits into the framework of our business will allow us to scale nationally to be the top alcoholic ready-to-drink beverage brand in the country that is committed to consumer transparency,” Vide co-founder Sal Campisi said.

Next Century Spirits has not disclosed the value nor the percentage of its stake in Vide.

The Creek Water and Bear Fight American whiskey brand owner said the deal helps position the company as a "leader" in RTDs, "especially within the tequila-based RTD sector".

Anthony Moniello, Next Century Spirits' co-CEO, said: “I’ve been so impressed with Vide’s growth thus far and I love how the portfolio uses real vodka and tequila within its products. Broadly speaking, the RTD category is hyper-competitive but we see the tequila RTD space as an underdeveloped category where we have an opportunity to scale growth.”

Next Century Spirits said it will continue to “diversify its portfolio to meet the demand of gen-z and millennial consumers”.

In 2022, the company acquired RTD cocktail and seltzer company Xed Beverages for an undisclosed sum. Xed Beverages was founded in 2019 and launched its first brand, Sesh, an RTD it describes as ‘cocktail meets seltzer’ in 2021.

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RTDs are set to outpace vodka and whisk(e)y to become the US’s most valuable spirits category by 2027, according to analysis by GlobalData, Just Drinks’ parent company.

Worth $11.2bn in 2017, the US “flavoured alcoholic beverages” category could reach a value of $52.5bn by 2027, outpacing whisk(e)y by $11.1bn and vodka by $31.2bn.

Tequila and mezcal are also set for a decent boost in the US, rising from a category value of $6.9bn in 2017 to a predicted $16.7bn by 2027.

Next Century Spirits was founded in North Carolina in 2018 by Joel Pawlak and Scott Bolin. It creates custom formulations for those looking to enter the beverage market and covers spirits such as whiskies, vodka, gin, rum and Tequila, as well as RTD cocktails.