Earlier today, we released Ontario’s top alcoholic beverage trends of 2025, our annual summary of purchasing patterns across the province.

In 2025 Ontarians embraced the opportunity to discover something new amidst restrictions on U.S.-produced products, new points of sale, and innovative new product releases.

“This year we saw trends shift in response to industry changes and a growing desire to support local, with more than 20% growth in demand for Ontario products” said Abhay Garg, Vice President, Merchandising. “Customers were motivated to try something new – often from our own backyard – which is great for local producers.”

Highlighted trends for 2025

Beer, Cider & Ready-to-Drink

. Beer (+22%) and RTD coolers (+21%) saw significant increases, supported by availability at more points of sale outside of the LCBO.

. At LCBO, expanded access to large-format beer packs drove +42% growth, with 30-packs being the most popular.

. Craft beer and cider customers continued to explore seasonal releases, flavour innovations, and traditional European styles.

. Non-alcoholic beer and cider grew +14%, with more options coming in 2026.

. Seltzer-style RTDs remained the top-selling type, while RTD cocktails remained the fastest-growing segment (+31%), doubling last year’s growth. This year, LCBO more than doubled the number of products from small Ontario RTD producers.

Wine

. Customers continued to seek out fresher styles including lighter reds, sparklers, and light wines.

. Moderation trends continued with de-alcoholized wines gaining popularity (+126%).

. In lieu of US products, Ontario VQA wines saw exceptional growth (+56%), led by Ontario red VQA (+66%) and Ontario white VQA (+54%).

. There was also notable increases in demand for wines from Canada (+19%), Australia (+17%), Italy (+10%), and France (+18%) — especially reds.

Spirits

. Canadian- and Ontario-made spirits gained momentum across vodka, rum, and liqueurs, with Canadian whisky leading overall growth by value.

. Notably, Asian whiskies were up +23% and Irish whiskey was up +2%.

. Smaller bottle sizes (under 750ml) continued to grow as customers sought convenience; LCBO is expanding its assortment accordingly.

The full media release can be found in LCBO’s Media Centre.

Data and information pertain to November 9, 2024 - November 8, 2025.  

We also recently published our latest quarterly update, a visual overview of key data insights from Q2 (June 22 – Oct 11, 2025).