42 Below adds ready-to-drink cocktails to mix

Spiritmaker 42 Below is to enter the $2.6 billion ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail market in Australasia.

By next month, New Zealanders will be the first to taste the vodka company's ready-to-drink rum-based cocktail. A vodka-based drink is planned by mid-year, with plans to roll out the products in Australia later.

Managing director Geoff Ross said the company had seen opportunities in the RTD market for some time. It estimates the Australian market for pre-mixed drinks alone is worth A$2 billion ($2.24 billion) and is growing more than 10 per cent a year.

The move will see 42 Below going head-to-head with Lion Nathan, which has about 22 per cent of the RTD market here, and Independent Distillers, which has 65 per cent.

The local liquor industry has been rife with rumours on the future of Independent since the death of founder Michael Erceg in a helicopter crash last year.

Ross said 42 Below's plans were in no way a response to the potential shake-up in the transtasman RTD market.

The company's focus would stay on its premium brands, 42 Below vodka and South Gin. Next month, it will also launch its first rum brand.

Ross said the company was on target to deliver annual sales of about $15.5 million.