Ready-to-drink canned cocktail maker Crook & Marker has confirmed the elimination of positions in its salesforce, according to a company spokesperson.
The spokesperson declined to share the specific number of jobs that were eliminated.
The layoffs come amid Crook & Marker’s recent launch of large-format, ready-to-serve bottled cocktails (15% ABV) and its path to rolling out those products nationwide as it hones its “strategy to bring zero-sugar organic brewed cocktails to the fast-growing ready-to-drink category,” the spokesperson said.
“These innovation items are designed to enable our wholesaler partners to better compete for consumer occasions that have until now been served by wine and spirit brands, and we are working to establish proof of concept over the summer in a series of key markets as a launchpad for national expansion,” the spokesperson said. “In recent weeks we’ve worked to ready our organization for this activity, which has involved some headcount reduction in the sales team.”
In addition to cutting some jobs, Crook & Marker is also adjusting its compensation model for some remaining employees.
“We remain 100% committed to our national footprint and believe that taken together these moves position us for significant growth over the next 12 months,” the spokesperson said.
Crook & Marker was founded by Ben Weiss, who sold antioxidant beverage brand Bai to Dr. Pepper Snapple for $1.7 billion in November 2016.
Crook & Marker, which initially launched in 2018 as zero sugar spiked and sparkling beverages made with organic alcohol, has reinvented itself in recent years to focus on canned cocktails. In 2018, the company initially eschewed the hard seltzer label but later embraced it as the popularity of the products grew. In the years after, Crook & Marker has launched sugar-free hard sodas and spiked teas and spiked lemonades, before pivoting to portfolio of canned cocktails
Weiss is the host of Billion Dollar Idea, a reality television competition show on Fox Business. Entrepreneur contestants vie for up to an investment of up to $1 million from Weiss, who crosses the country to meet 15 candidates in their home markets before he selects six to advance, according to the show’s website.