All of Firestone Walker’s brand platforms have new news in 2022, including new IPAs, more cans, fruited beers and even a hard seltzer.
Chief sales officer David Macon and chief marketing officer Dustin Hinz detailed the company’s 2022 plans for its four brand platforms during a recent livestream of its annual business plan.
Read on for highlights of the plans for 805, Mind Haze, Cali Squeeze and Firestone Walker’s core portfolio.
805 in 2022: Cerveza Adds Cans and 10 New Markets, 9 Ambassador-Driven Campaigns
805 Cerveza, the Mexican import-inspired sibling to 805 Blonde Ale, will enter its sophomore year swinging, with the addition of cans and 10 new markets as it fills in the remaining 805 footprint. But 805 won’t be adding to the brand family’s overall footprint.
“We’re still learning how to sell it outside of the core three states of California, Arizona and Nevada,” Macon said. “We have a little bit of learning to do, we have a lot of work to do to make it a healthier brand outside of that. We’re seeing some results in Texas and the Pac Northwest that we like. In particular, Idaho and Montana have come on really strong as of late.”
805 Cerveza launched in four markets (California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas) in January, and will begin shipping to Washington, Oregon, Idaho Montana, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii and Illinois in 2022.
Since its launch, 805 Cerveza has sold 500,000 cases and the company expects it to reach 750,000 cases before the end of the year.
The impetus to create 805 Cerveza came from data that showed 805 Blonde Ale drinkers are brand loyal — 70% of them consume the beer monthly — but they also drink a large amount of imports and craft, Hinz said.
“It helps us understand how we can continue to drive more share of fridge with an 805 drinker,” he said.
Throughout 2022, 805 will roll out nine campaigns featuring its brand ambassadors — professional surfers, snowboarders, mountain bikers and musicians that embody the brand’s ethos — that connect to key beer drinking occasions with an 805 twist, such as tailgating in the fall, but after a long day on the mountain.
“805 just doesn’t do football, but we do do other things, and we think we can win our share of that tentpole by doing it our way,” Hinz said.
Most campaigns include video content for either TV or online use, and about half (49%) of the company’s media spend is dedicated to 805. All nine tentpole campaigns will include thematic point-of-sale merchandise, and many include consumer sweepstakes that tie into the ambassador or content, such as a custom snowboard with a corresponding campaign.
With 805 Cerveza, Firestone Walker is leaning into the brand’s ties to the Hispanic community and rolling out specialty packaging for Cinco de Mayo and Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), key holidays in Latin culture. In the last year, both days became “two of the biggest selling events” for the company, Hinz said.
805 Cerveza also hasn’t cannibalized its older sibling — in fact the opposite has played out.
“When we run Cerveza ads, we don’t just see that we’re selling Cerveza; we’re seeing a huge lift on 805,” Hinz said. “All around a lot to be excited about — and it was just with bottles. It’s something that we try to remind ourselves about every day: What would this look like with bottles and cans? 2022 is going to be big here.”
In addition to 6- and 12-pack cans for 805 Cerveza, the company is also introducing quart-size bottles and 24 oz. can 3-packs for both 805 beers at the suggestion of its distributor council.
Mind Haze Portfolio Expands to Variety Pack, Light IPA Offering
Mind Haze, Firestone Walker’s hazy IPA offering that spawned a brand platform, will expand its ranks to include a new offering — Mind Haze Light IPA — and a variety pack — Tropical Hazy Mix Pack.
With the Mind Haze family of hazy IPAs, the company is targeting new and existing craft beer drinkers between the ages of 21 and 45. Mind Haze drinkers skew more male (70%) than female (30%). Although the brand represents one of craft beer’s hottest styles, Firestone Walker sees it as something similar to but separate from craft beer.
“We don’t view Mind Haze as a craft beer; we view this as just a really exciting beer brand,” Hinz said. “The goal of Mind Haze is to lower the barrier of entry to craft by having really exciting graphics, really interesting brand positions with great flavor profiles.
“We’re going to be able to pull people into craft that haven’t necessarily been interested in an IPA,” he continued. “We’re seeing a lot of great success there, bringing new consumers into Mind Haze and that’s what we’re going to continue to do. We think that we can push this in the same lane as 805 is becoming a lifestyle beer brand..”
Firestone Walker is leaning into presenting Mind Haze as a standalone brand family with a portfolio story and billboarded packaging on shelf.
“If we’re pushing Mind Haze Light or Mind Haze or Double Mind Haze, or tropical, or pushing the portfolio, the stronger your portfolio, the better all the viewers in that portfolio will do,” Hinz said.
Firestone Walker optimized the graphics for flagship Mind Haze IPA, which increased sales in its home market and elsewhere this year.
“It’s the No. 2 hazy IPA in California,” Macon said. “It’s No. 4 in total U.S. Nielsen, which again, being in only 27 states and being a No. 4 position beer, that should tell you where this beer has been, but mainly where it’s going.”
FlyJack, the 100-calorie 4% ABV hazy IPA the company launched in early 2020, will be discontinued and transformed into Mind Haze Light IPA, which the company believes will better resonate with consumers by using direct language in its name.
“What we realized is, why not call it what it is, right?” Macon asked. “It really will tell people, the consumer, we’re not hiding from anything by trying to name it a fancy name or by trying to hide behind session IPA, which nobody really knows what that means, but this really tells you exactly what it is.”
Firestone Walker will maintain premium pricing on Double Mind Haze, which has become the company’s fifth best-selling beer, even as competitors have begun line-pricing their double IPA offerings.
“To each their own, but we believe that this is such a premium product and premium beer that you should pay premium,” Macon said. “We want our retailers and our wholesalers to enjoy that extra margin as well.”
Cryo-Hopped Hopnosis IPA Rolls Out in December
Firestone Walker’s core-branded lineup is getting a new lead IPA with an ambitious goal: Hopnosis IPA, which the company aims to grow into a top-five IPA.
The company will debut Hopnosis IPA later this year. Hopnosis is a 6.7% ABV double dry-hopped beer described as a “New World IPA” that isn’t hazy.
“One of the things we talked a lot about this year is this notion of West Coast IPA,” Macon said. “And what does that mean and how can a company like ours with an iconic brand like Union Jack redefine what West Coast IPA is?”
The brewery launched Union Jack in 2007, and Luponic Distortion, its hop-centric rotating IPA series, in 2016, but wanted to add something more aggressive to its portfolio, Hinz said.
“Luponic Distortion and Union Jack are iconic brands for us, but their footprints are relatively small,” he said. “What we saw with Double Mind Haze right out of the gate was more distribution than both of those brands combined. We knew that, hot on the heels of those brands and some of the successes that we were having, we needed a more competitive IPA offering.”
Hopnosis IPA uses Cryo Hops pellets, which “are made by extracting the concentrated lupulin from whole-leaf hops that contain all the resins for bitterness and aromatic oils,” brewmaster Matt Brynildson explained on a slide during the presentation.
The company aims for Hopnosis IPA to become one of the top five IPAs in off-premise sales, which account for more than 40% of the volume of IPA 12-pack sales, according to data shared during the presentation. Hopnosis IPA will begin shipping in December in 6- and 12-pack cans, single-serve 19.2 oz cans and on draft.
“If this does as well as we expect to do, you can anticipate there being extensions of this, doubles and so on,” Hinz said.
Firestone Walker will debut two different IPA-themed variety packs in bottles and cans next year to drive trial with a rotation of new offerings. Names for the new brands — such as Blanc Noise, Melon Conspiracy, Simcoe Sequence and Galaxy Shapeshifters — were selected by entering hop names into a band name generator, Hinz said. A 24-pack IPA mix pack for club stores will be offered, and will rotate three times throughout the year to include a different beer alongside Hopnosis IPA, Mind Haze and Union Jack.
“I’m really excited about what we’ve done in the last couple years of mixed packs,” Macon said. “It was the package du jour for retailers during the pandemic, and I think you’re gonna like the evolution that has been on now.”
Classic offerings — Union Jack, DBA and Pivo Pils — will also receive a retro-inspired redesign to resemble their original packaging in a way that will block on shelf. Hinz called it a “timeless design that goes back to our roots and speaks to consumers.”
The change also marks a return to standalone packs for Pivo Pils after requests from drinkers and media.
“It does come up a lot,” Macon said. “And for that very reason, it’s going to see a second life here and perhaps more expansion in some of our farther east markets.”
Drinkers of the core Firestone Walker line are in the company’s broadest and oldest age range, between 25 and 55. These drinkers are solidly within — and loyal to — the craft segment, and lean more male (70%) than female (30%).
Cali Squeeze Splashes in with Fruited Hefeweizens and Hard Seltzers
Firestone Walker’s April acquisition of the Cali Squeeze brand from SLO Brewing has already paid off in unexpected ways. The brand’s embrace of fruit inspired the Mind Haze Tropical Hazy Mix Pack, for starters.
Beyond that, Firestone Walker is confident Cali Squeeze will help it attract younger, female consumers with diverse palates. The brand’s target drinkers — aged 21-35 and split nearly even between men and women — also consume fruited beer, hard seltzer, kombucha, hard lemonade and ready-to-drink cocktails.
What’s more, Cali Squeeze’s Golden State roots give it a valuable hook.
“California is an exportable lifestyle,” Hinz said. “It’s something we know we can lean into. We’ve done it before with 805. We think we can do it again with Cali Squeeze.”
The fruited hefeweizen line includes Blood Orange, Mango and Tropical P.O.G. — a combination of passionfruit, orange and guava. All check in at 5.4% ABV and are offered in standalone 6-pack cans and a variety 12-pack.
Meanwhile, Cali Squeeze Hard Seltzers are taking a regional tack, an intentional decision as sales of the national brands that dominate the hard seltzer segment slow down.
“We’ll see how it shakes out – we’re going to be patient with this one,” Macon told Brewbound. “Indeed the category is weird and even a bit volatile at the moment, but there is a play for regional ‘craft’ seltzer.”
Firestone Walker will adjust Cali Squeeze seltzers’ ABV down from 6% to 4.2% and bring the calories down to 90. The seltzers will be available in a variety 12-pack of Mango, Tropical P.O.G. and Pink Lemonade.
Both the hard seltzers and the hefeweizens fall under the innovation platform the company has dubbed “Fruits with Benefits,” a vehicle through which it can experiment with fruit and various beverage bases, such as kombucha.
“This is an offering for consumers who want flavor first that aren’t necessarily concerned whether it’s a seltzer or a kombucha, hefe or whatever,” Hinz said. “They’re looking for flavor, and they’re looking for a buzz and we think that these products under Matt’s guidance are absolutely phenomenal on the flavor profile side, so we call it fruits with benefits. It’s our fruit innovation program.”