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Ready -to- drink (RTD) alcoholic beverages are those that can be consumed directly from the bottle or can without further mixing or processing . Consumers can drink them immediately after opening the packaging. Their alcohol content is generally between 3% and 8% vol , significantly lower than spirits and close to or slightly higher than beer. Common flavors include fruit, cocktail, and sparkling. Ready-to-drink beverages often come in small packages, emphasizing portability, single-use consumption, and a youthful consumption scenario.
In recent years, ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages have been rapidly gaining popularity. In the UK, RTD sales have surpassed £1 billion, with brands such as Au Vodka, Gordon’s, Smirnoff, Jack Daniel’s, and BuzzBallz leading the market. This growth is reshaping consumer expectations, retail strategies, and especially packaging innovation.
Today, packaging materials of all kinds are flourishing, vying for attention. Packaging is no longer just a container; it is a key element of brand statement, sustainability commitment, and competitive differentiation. Glass, with its premium feel, recyclability, and versatility, has become a natural fit for this trend.
At Newray Packaging Solutions, we believe the RTD (Real-Time Demand) trend and sustainability demands present four key opportunities. These are not only opportunities for the industry, but also core competitive advantages for us to wholesale spirit bottles.
Ⅰ. RTD Wine Packaging Trends
1. Sense of luxury and visual impact
High-end RTD brands rely on packaging to elevate their status. Au Vodka’s gold-plated 700ml spirit bottle is a prime example of how packaging can become a lifestyle symbol. Spirit bottle glasses are the perfect vehicle for showcasing luxury craftsmanship — gold plating , metal plates enhancing the sense of luxury, embossed details , silkscreened logos , and highly recognizable custom glass liquor bottle shapes.
2. Combining portability with a sense of ritual
In ready-to-drink and small-sized consumption scenarios, portability and a sense of ritual are developing in parallel. Aluminum cans and small bottles dominate high-frequency scenarios such as outdoor and ready-to-drink drinks due to their lightweight and portability advantages; while in occasions that emphasize experience and atmosphere, such as bars, restaurants, gift sets, and family gatherings, remain the first choice for a high-end image. Through small-capacity empty gin bottles for sale designs and resealable structures, brands can satisfy both the convenience of use and retain the ritualistic experience of opening, pouring, and sharing.
3. Sustainability becomes a market necessity
Sustainability has evolved from a brand advantage to a fundamental market access requirement. In major consumer markets such as Europe and the United States, regulations are explicitly requiring packaging to be recyclable and environmentally friendly. Glass, being infinitely recyclable without affecting material properties, has become a natural and compliant packaging choice. Meanwhile, lightweight glass whiskey bottles designs and the application of high proportions of recycled glass are gradually becoming an industry consensus, helping to reduce carbon emissions and logistics costs, and allowing brands to achieve a more rational balance between environmental communication and long-term cost control.
4. Packaging tells a story
Emerging brands are establishing a differentiated competitive advantage through more distinctive and emotionally resonant narratives. Packaging is no longer just a functional container, but a crucial carrier of brand stories, directly conveying the brand’s historical heritage, technological innovation concepts, or the lifestyle and values it advocates. Through limited-edition releases, seasonal visual updates, and cross-brand collaborations with artists or other brands, brands continuously inject freshness and buzz into their products, creating stronger memorability and collectible value in consumers’ minds .
Ⅱ. Newray's Four Advantages
1. RTD and High-End Customization of Spirits
At Newray, we offer a variety of paint colors to meet the needs of different customers. For glass bottles for gin types without spray painting, if a high-end effect is desired, we can provide crystal white paint, giving the product a luxurious and textured look similar to high-end perfume bottles. If customers require spray painting, to save costs, we can choose our standard white paint to produce the bottle first and then apply the spray painting effect, thus effectively controlling costs.
We not only focus on glass bottles to hold liquor design and empty glass liquor bottlesproduction, but also on advanced processing techniques , allowing transparent glass liquor bottles to display a variety of colors through different processes, becoming a symbol of the brand. From spray painting, frosting, hot stamping, metallic spraying, embossed laser engraving, to screen printing, baking, UV printing, and more , our processes help brands achieve luxurious differentiation.
Our advantages:
- We offer design consultations with a design output within a week and rapid prototyping within 20-30 days, turning creative visions into reality.
- Various advanced processing technologies help RTD and spirits brands elevate their packaging into a lifestyle asset.
- With extensive experience in processing various types of alcoholic beverage packaging, our advanced processing technology ensures consistency in large-scale production.
Value provided to customers :
- A uniquely designed bottle shape reinforces brand identity. This is an essential step in brand building.
- A stronger shelf impact and greater social media reach. Newray’s expertise helps you realize your visions and contributes to your success.
- Packaging has become a high-end narrative medium. We have multiple ways to achieve this, and we are the think tank behind you.
2. Sustainable Packaging Leadership
At Newray, we prefer to view environmental protection as a long-term, serious endeavor, rather than a slogan on a brochure. Over the past few years, we’ve continuously invested in lightweight glass technology, improving gin bottle and glass structure, mold design, and manufacturing processes to make each empty liquor bottles lighter and more material-efficient while maintaining strength and safety. These seemingly small changes, when applied to mass production, result in tangible reductions in energy consumption and emissions.
Our advantages:
- Advanced furnaces , production equipment, and mold design enable the creation of thin and durable bottle shapes.
- We are increasing the proportion of recycled materials used and promoting environmental awareness. Currently, our ordinary white ash uses 55% recycled materials, and high-quality white ash uses 45%.
- With clear sustainability metrics, the factory vigorously promotes VPO (Vehicle Product Ownership) to help customers demonstrate their environmental commitment.
Value provided to customers :
- Reduce emissions and transportation costs.
- Enhance the brand’s reputation in the environmental protection market.
- It complies with increasingly stringent environmental regulations in the UK and the EU.
3. Brand Narrative in Decorative Craftsmanship
We believe packaging should tell a story. Newray offers a one-stop solution for decorating – spraying, printing, engraving, and bilingual labeling – turning bottles into narrative tools.
Our advantages:
- We accept small-batch sampling and offer unlimited sampling until you are satisfied.
- Before mass production, we encourage pre-production sampling to save customers time and money.
- We co-create with our clients, seamlessly integrating brand elements into packaging design and industrializing production .
Value provided to customers :
- Packaging establishes an emotional connection with consumers.
- Collector-grade bottle designs enhance interaction and loyalty.
- Unique designs allow emerging brands to stand out in a crowded market.
4. A rigorous quality control system
At Newray, quality is our most important commitment. We have established a dual system combining automated machine quality inspection and manual inspection to ensure that every bottle meets international standards.
Value provided to customers :
- Stable and reliable product quality reduces customer complaints and return risks.
- An efficient testing process ensures consistent delivery of large orders.
- Let the brand win consumer trust in the market with high-quality packaging.
5. Global supply chain partners
Newray is not just a manufacturer, but also a global partner . Leveraging our experience in cross-border logistics and international port communications, we support brands in expanding into Asia and beyond.
Our advantages:
- Flexible customization and rapid delivery meet the needs of rapidly growing brands.
- Transparent communication and technical accuracy in cross-border projects.
- Highly adaptable and compliant with diverse international standards
Value provided to customers :
- Reliable supply chain support for global expansion.
- Efficient export solutions for the international market.
- Build long-term trust through professionalism and responsiveness.
Ⅲ. Industry Reference: The Power of AU Vodka and its Packaging
AU Vodka’s success as the UK’s best-selling ready-to-drink spirits brand demonstrates the strategic importance of packaging. Its gold bottle is not merely a container, but a symbol of luxury, social media capital, and a key element of competitive differentiation.
This case is a well-known example in the industry demonstrating how high-quality packaging can elevate a brand’s status.
Ⅳ. Newray is a growth partner for emerging brands
The rise of RTD (Retail Tolerance) alcoholic beverages is reshaping the packaging landscape. Cans dominate in terms of convenience, but glass bottles remain the gold standard for premium positioning, sustainability, and brand narrative .
At Newray, our four strengths— high-end customization, sustainable leadership, decorative storytelling, and global collaboration —make us the ideal partner for emerging brands and industry leaders. We don’t just make bottles; we create brand experiences within glass .
