As part of our annual Drinks Retailing Indie Trends Report, we surveyed a sample of retailers from across the UK. Lizzy O’Riordan delves into which categories they think will thrive or dive

Beer
Of all the beer categories listed, retailers were most excited about low & no alcohol, with almost half of respondents naming it as the beer type they expect to grow most in 2026. Unlike low & no wines, which received mixed results, many retailers specifically commented on the fast-improving quality of the category.

Stuart Anderson, owner of London-based craft beer shop Ghost Whale, said: “Our rate of sale of alcohol free beer has been steadily increasing and has been sustained at a high level for some time.” He added this mirrors the improvement in quality.

Other retailers noted lager gaining traction, in particular at small independent brewers. When asked about growing brands, “rather than specifying individual brands, I’d expect to see a continuation of support for truly local breweries,” said Emily Silva, head of retail & marketing at The Oxford Wine Company, echoing similar sentiments elsewhere.

In terms of categories expected to decline, many independent retailers pointed to both IPAs and sour/ fruit beers – a somewhat surprising response following the success of fruit beer brands like Jubel. Some also expressed doubts that stouts would continue their rise into 2026, anticipating a slowdown in the trend.

Wine
For wine, a large number of retailers pointed to the growth of light reds, mirroring similar answers found in last year’s Trends Report. Unsurprisingly, in an inverse trend, almost half of retailers said they expected bold or tannic reds to experience a dip in sales, partially because of changing consumer tastes and higher duty rates on wines over 14.5% abv.

Some retailers also pointed to the success of sparkling wine in 2026, continuing the general trend that sparkling wine sold better than still in 2025. Interestingly, there was a split in opinion when it came to natural wines and orange wines, with a similar number of retailers expecting them to increase or decrease in popularity.

Chris Piper, owner of Dorset-based Christopher Piper Wines, said: “Orange wines are beginning to lose traction in the on-trade, as a vast majority of the wine-drinking public are not in tune with wine professionals who are convinced it is the next best thing.”

In terms of regions, a wide variety of places were mentioned, with New World locations generally at the fore, as retailers noted a growing interest in finding both value and uniqueness. On this topic, Nicolas Rezzouk, buyer at Reserve Wines in Manchester, said the focus is on “holiday regions and those associated with value for money”.

Spirits
Paralleling the results in beer, low & no-alcohol spirits were highlighted as the primary area of growth for 2026, followed by rum, tequila and mezcal in equal measure, showing confidence that the agave trend will hold.

It’s a rise that started in the on-trade and is now solidly thriving in retail too – off-trade channels represented 59.3% of global tequila sales in 2025, according to Mordor Intelligence. Likewise, statistics back up the success of rum in the off-trade, which made up 77.5% of the global rum market in 2025, according to Mordor.

In terms of spirits that retailers expect to fall in popularity, the clear answer is gin. This echoes last year’s results, when no retailers expected it to grow as a category.

Aside from gin, the range of spirits expected to decrease in popularity was disparate. Notably, however, no retailers expected RTDs to see a decline; and this mirrored the same findings from the IWSR, which predicted that the versatility of RTD drinks would keep the category in growth.

Low & no

Independent retailers said they were most impressed by advances in beer, followed by spirits and then wine in low & no alcohol, with another group commenting that they weren’t excited by any.

The question of whether low & no alcohol is important to retailers’ ranges also produced mixed results. Rezzouk from Reserve Wines commented that alcohol-free options have generally stagnated in the shop. Likewise, Cassie Butler-Gould, manager at Butler’s Wine Cellar in Brighton, said the business stocks some alcohol-free beers but doesn’t tend to focus on wines “as we’ve not found anything we would want to drink ourselves”.

Those who stocked low & no-alcohol products, however, praised spirits brands including Botivo, Sylva, Three Spirit, Almave and Pentire. Wine and sparkling tea brands including Jukes, Wild Idol, Copenhagen Sparkling Tea and Bolle were also singled out, alongside beer brands Jump Ship Brewing, Tempest Brewing, We Can Be Friends Brewery and Vandestreek.