Aldi's new summertime adult drinks are primed for budget-strapped and younger shoppers
Aldi has rolled out summertime beverages for adults that include a Napa Valley white wine, a cocktail pre-mix and several fruit-flavored hard seltzers, all priced at under $15.
The retailer said its latest lineup of seasonal alcoholic drinks is intentionally positioned to be affordable, approachable and on trend.
“We constantly look at trends, not only with the consumer but the overarching market trends and innovations across products. We want to really understand what shoppers are looking for,” said Arlin Zajmi, director of national buying for adult beverages at Aldi, told Bagable.com.
“Specifically in alcohol, we've been able to understand better who we should target. Among them are the younger generation adults,” he said. “They are consumers who are of legal drinking age. They’re educating themselves about wine, beer and other drinks with alcohol and they’re learning about what they like and don’t like.”
Aldi, a privately-held German discount grocer with more than 2,300 stores across the US, is rapidly saturating America’s neighborhoods.
Its popular low-cost model has an intensely loyal fanbase that loves showing off on social media their purchases scored during weekly Aldi trips. The “Aldi Aisle of Shame” Facebook page, for example, has more than 3 million followers.
Aldi is able to keep its prices low and compete aggressively with other value-priced grocery sellers, such as Walmart, because 90% of its products are private label instead of higher-priced branded alternatives.
Other than its value prices, Aldi fans enjoy the treasure hunt-like aspect of shopping at the store where new products are introduced weekly in an area called “Aldi Finds.” It’s an aisle with a miscellaneous mix of non-grocery products — candles and backpacks to sneakers, dresses, kitchen supplies and even beauty products.
Ready-to-drink options a hotspot for Aldi
Aldi’s 2025 summer beverages with alcohol include a total of 25 offerings, with 11 of them brand new to the category.
The drinks, launched in April, include a Belluccini Buck’s Fizz Orange Pomegranate ($5.99), Fieldcraft Mango Dragonfruit Imperial Seltzer ($8.99), Fieldcraft White Peach Strawberry Fruited Seltzer ($7.99), Pacific Fruit Vineyards Sweet Mango ($3.99), Resting Brunch Face Mango Cocktail ($5.99), Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($10.99), TeraBox Pinot Grigio ($14.99), Vista Bay Hard Seltzer Punch Variety Pack ($12.99), Wernesgruner Lemon Radler ($5.99), Wicked Grove Blueberry Hard Cider ($8.99) and the Zarita Pink Lemonade ($9.99).
“All of these drinks are under $15 for a reason,” said Zajmi. “We want these to be affordable and accessible.
“For example, last year we launched our first $5 brand in wine called California Heritage and that was done on purpose,” he said. “Younger consumers are coming to the alcohol space in the flavor category, but then later on they want to explore wine. Now we have a $5 brand that offers dry, sweet and sparkling options. It’s a low-cost entry point from where they can then trade up.”
The new Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, priced at $10.99, is part of Aldi’s premium wine brands but still accessible, Zajmi said.
Besides wine, Aldi is heavily focused on the ready-to-drink (RTD) category.
“The younger generation is really gravitating to RTD because it's easy to understand, flavor forward and not intimidating to them,” Zajmi said, adding that Aldi has “almost tripled” its offerings in the past five years of ready-to-drink adult beverages, such as cocktails and hard seltzers, and total sales in the category were up about 40% last year.
Also, with low-alcohol drinks gaining popularity with Millennials and GenZers, Zajmi said Aldi’s adult drinks selection is factoring in this trend.
“We've seen the consumer gravitate towards low or very high alcohol. So, in the ready-to-drink category, we’re investing in both extremes,” he said. “The new Zarita Pink Lemonade contains 14.9% alcohol but the fruit flavored hard seltzers are 6% to 9% alcohol and the Lemon Radler contains 2.5% alcohol.”