Blake’s Beverage Co. is looking to be a leader in not just hard cider, but all “fruit-forward fourth category innovation,” founder and CEO Andrew Blake told Brewbound.
Blake’s Beverage Co. was created late last year, merging Michigan-based Blake’s Hard Cider and Oregon-based Avid Cider Co. with Texas-based Austin Eastciders. The deal made Blake’s Beverage the second-largest cider company in the U.S., according to the company.
Blake’s Beverage is on a mission to have the No. 1 portfolio in the hard cider segment, but also wants to expand its claim of other fourth category offerings, capitalizing on its beverage quality reputation, farmer and orchard relationships, and various geographic touchpoints.
“We have these geographical brands that can really speak to the local trends and flavor profiles of the Pac-Northwest or Austin, Texas or the Midwest or the East Coast,” Blake said.
The company plans to lean into each individual brands’ geographic knowledge of consumers and trends to launch new innovation, before using the resources of the larger company to expand products.
The first major innovation launching with this strategy is Tuesday Cocktail Club, a wine-based ready-to-drink cocktail (RTD) brand from Avid and a top priority for the company in 2024. The 10.5% ABV RT launched late last month in Oregon and Washington with three flavors – Mango Margarita, Peach Bellini and Marionberry Mojito – each available in single-flavor 12 oz. 4-packs (SRP $12.99).
Avid created the product after noticing a hole in Oregon’s RTD market, created because spirits-based RTDs are only available in liquor stores in the controlled state.
“If you’re just out shopping, you’re not going to end up at the liquor store most of the time, so this is a really good opportunity,” Avid co-founder Samantha Roberts told Brewbound. “People definitely do drink RTDs, but they’re just harder to get a hold of here. So we’re gonna make that a lot easier for them.”
“We were missing this whole segment of the RTD category that was going through the roof,” she continued. “We found this unique opportunity to use a wine-based cocktail – technically cider is wine and some fermented fruit – and we just brought that up to a higher ABV and we’re able to turn it into a wine-based cocktail with classic cocktail flavors.”
Tuesday Cocktail Club also speaks to Millennial and Gen Z consumers and women, increasingly important consumer groups for bev-alc, Roberts said.
“We thought that the look and the feel, and even the taste of the product is something that group could gravitate towards,” Roberts said.
The brand is also gluten free and “all natural,” made with fruit sourced from the same farms and orchards that Avid uses for its hard ciders and hard seltzers.
“We know that that demographic, they’re concerned about what’s going on in their bodies and how they’re treating their bodies,” Roberts said. “And it’s a lot different than generations prior. So that was another thing that we focused on when we were creating this product.”
While only available in two markets right now, Blake’s Beverage plans to take Tuesday Cocktail Club nationwide later this year. Initial distributor reactions in Oregon and Washington have already exceeded the company’s expectations.
“Our distributors were extremely excited about it,” Roberts said of the initial pitch. “They didn’t have anything like this in their portfolio yet so they were ready to go and tackle it and get it in as many spots as they could.”
“I’ve been in the space for over 10 years now, it’s not always when bringing innovation and thoughts forward that they’re grabbed and pulled through as much as they are,” Blake added. “And Tuesday Cocktail Club has been unique in the fact that it’s exceeded expectations of retailer and distributor feedback so far. Early signs are really positive and optimistic for the brand.”
Tuesday Cocktail Club is just the first of several priority innovations coming out of Blake’s collective of brands. This week, Austin Eastciders announced the launch of Rico Tepache, a 6.8% ABV Texas-style tepache (fermented beverage) made with pineapple, piloncillo (brown sugar), cinnamon and ginger.
Rico Tepache is available now in 12 oz. can 6-packs, 19.2 oz. single-serve cans and on draft in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Oklahoma.
“Tepache is a special drink to many people, so our team has worked diligently on honoring its long tradition in every aspect, from flavor R&D to packaging and everything in between,” Blake’s senior VP of marketing Kim Oakley said in a press release. “Often low-alc and home-made from pineapple rinds in Mexico City, our Texas take on Tepache is a modern twist that ferments the fruit instead of the rind, promising a clean finish and a higher ABV.”
“One of the reasons why we really wanted to come together as Blake’s beverage company was that we knew that we were going to be better together and be able to resource missions,” Blake said. “It gives more scale to the opportunity for innovation. And we have these areas where we can let the local teams innovate what speaks to them and is culturally relevant.
“And then we can plug it into the larger platform when they prove themselves, and that’s really exciting for every team to have an option to kind of take their baby and grow it up into a larger opportunity,” he continued. “That’s some of the magic that’s happened when we’ve come together as three separate teams now working as one.”