By the mid-2030s, the ready-to-drink (RTD) beverage market would be approaching a value of almost a trillion and a half – an increase of roughly 67% from 2026*. It’s a burgeoning category, with analysts putting CAGR in mid to high single digits and consumer trends such as healthy nutrition, affordability, and moderation accelerating growth.
For dairy brands, categories such as nutritional shakes, gut health drinks, and cold coffee are where the game is at.
Protein is a major growth platform: companies such as Danone have made it central to their entire nutritional strategy, expanding their offering across formats and functionality. A growing consumer focus on convenience is why the company chose the RTD format for both its nutritional shake Oikos Fusion and its shelf-stable offering under the same brand in North America.
“RTD shakes allow the brand to show up in on-the-go occasions throughout the day, in moments where refrigerated yogurt doesn’t naturally play,” said Rafael Acevedo, Danone North America’s president of the Yogurt Business Unit. “As a result, we’re increasingly reaching consumers who may not be frequent yogurt buyers but are active participants in the broader protein category.”
The company’s expansion into meal replacements – both through the launch of Alpro Meal To Go in Europe and the acquisition of category major Huel – also signals a growing bet on RTD and convenience.
Protein demand has also propelled categories such as ultrafiltered milk, with dollar sales up nearly 15% year-over-year and unit gains up 5.5% in the US, according to Circana. While RTD is only a niche within this segment, the format has been a key growth driver for category leader fairlife, whose Core Power range of high-protein shakes ranks among the leading branded offerings in this space.
RTD has also helped to scale categories such as probiotic drinking yogurt and kefir. The latter in particular has seen a resurgence in recent years, transforming its image from a niche ethnic beverage to an on-trend drink for health-conscious consumers. Brands such as Biotiful and Lifeway Foods, Inc. have experienced rapid sales growth, the former ultimately having been acquired by dairy major Muller and the latter resisting two takeover bids from Danone – signalling the enduring importance of convenience-focused, gut health-friendly dairy.
But convenience isn’t simply about health – brands are also doubling down on healthy indulgence. Cold coffee has increasingly come to the fore in recent years. US Greek yogurt major Chobani acquired coffee roaster La Colombe, in which Keurig Dr Pepper is a key stakeholder and distributes La Colombe’s canned RTD coffee products across retail and convenience channels. The plan is to strengthen and scale the RTD coffee brand and increasingly play in a high-growth beverage space, which happens to be adjacent to Chobani’s creamer business.
Cold coffee is also a key pillar in the strategy of Swiss dairy major Emmi Group, whose Emmi Caffè Latte is sold internationally across Switzerland, Western Europe, and North America.
“Across markets, RTD coffee continues to benefit from strong demand for convenience, on-the-go energy and premium coffee experiences, although the category is evolving at different speeds depending on market maturity,” said Georgia Lightbody, Senior Brand Manager at Emmi Caffé Latte.
The category is becoming broader and more occasion-led, with consumers expecting RTD beverages to combine enjoyment, functionality and lifestyle relevance. “At the same time, consumers still expect authentic coffee credentials, high-quality clean ingredients and great taste, keeping premiumisation central to the category’s growth,” said Lightbody.
There’s also significant opportunity for dairy ingredients to play a role in RTD innovation at the R&D level. Whey - and increasingly, clear whey - has become a core component of high-protein drinks. Demand from food and beverage manufacturers continues to surge, reshaping dairy commodity markets, with processors increasingly allocating milk to cheese and whey as a by-product.
Demand for high-value whey proteins - such as WPC80 and WPI, from which clear whey is derived - is tightening supply and driving capacity expansion globally.
But in terms of formats, RTD has become more than just convenient: it’s now central to how dairy brands tap into new occasions and growth.
As demand for functionality and indulgence continues to rise, the format is set to remain a key driver of innovation and value creation in the future.
* Source: Fortune Business Insights
