The river has run its course for Coors Seltzer, Molson Coors Beverage Company told wholesalers today.
In a message to the company’s wholesalers this afternoon, Molson Coors chief marketing officer Michelle St. Jacques and U.S. sales president Kevin Doyle announced the company will cease production of Coors Seltzer, asking wholesalers to sell through remaining inventory.
The company pointed to the struggles of beer-branded hard seltzer line extensions — while also noting the success of its Vizzy Hard Seltzer — as the reasons behind the decision to discontinue Coors Seltzer, which launched in September.
Citing proprietary data, St. Jacques and Doyle noted that Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud Light Seltzer has declined 5.2%, and Constellation Brands’ Corona Hard Seltzer has declined 26.1% in the four-week period ending June 27 compared to the same time last year. In the same period, sales of Vizzy Hard Seltzer have increased 66% compared to last year.
“You can see the clear contrast in performance when compared to brands that have seen the most success over time, such as White Claw and Truly, and those that have enjoyed more recent successes, like Vizzy Hard Seltzer and Topo Chico Hard Seltzer,” St. Jacques and Doyle wrote. “That’s why we’ve made the decision to discontinue Coors Seltzer in the U.S. and commit our energy, resources, material supply and shelf space to Vizzy and Topo Chico Hard Seltzer.”
The company is asking wholesalers to replace Coors Seltzer with Topo Chico and Vizzy at retail, which it said are the No. 3 and No. 5 growth brands in the hard seltzer segment over the last four weeks.
Off-premise dollar sales of the Coors Seltzer variety pack have totaled $24.4 million at multi-outlet food and convenience retailers since launching in September 2020, according to data through June 13 from market research firm IRI. Dollar sales of the brand’s Black Cherry flavor totaled $3 million.
Coors Selzer was available in a variety 12-pack featuring Lemon Lime, Mango, Black Cherry, and Grapefruit flavors. Each 12 oz. slim can checked in at 4.5% ABV and contained 90 calories.
Touted as a hard seltzer “with a mission,” Coors Seltzer partnered with Change the Course, a non-profit organization that focuses on preserving rivers. Each purchase of a Coors Seltzer 12-pack triggered a donation from Molson Coors to Change the Course that would provide the services to restore 500 gallons of fresh river water, up to 5 billion gallons through the end of 2021.
Despite its frosty reception in the U.S., Molson Coors will continue producing Coors Seltzer for the Canadian market, where the brand holds a 3.7% share and is the sixth-best selling brand in the segment four months after its launch, Doyle and St. Jacques wrote. Vizzy is also available in Canada, but Topo Chico is not.
This isn’t the first time Molson Coors has pulled a high-profile underperforming brand. Last summer, the company announced it would “hibernate” Saint Archer Gold, the light lager it proffered as a competitor to A-B’s Michelob Ultra in a Super Bowl commercial. The company also discontinued Henry’s Hard Sparkling Water brand, an early entrant into the hard seltzer segment.
In May, the Leinenkugel’s brand discontinued several of its shandies and its Spritzen family, a line of 93-calorie, 4.2% ABV hard seltzer challengers that launched in March 2020, just as pandemic-driven safer-at-home orders were taking hold across the country.
“It’s never easy to discontinue a brand that you’ve poured your heart and soul into,” St. Jacques and Doyle wrote. “However, if a brand isn’t performing up to our expectations, we will pivot quickly and shift resources where they can make a bigger impact.”
Indeed, the discontinuance appears to be a swift decision, as just one month ago the company announced the release of Orange Cream Pop Coors Seltzer.