Ten hard kombucha makers are linking up to launch a national campaign to drive awareness and education of the emerging segment over the next five days in the lead up to “World Kombucha Day” on February 21.
The partnership will start with a series of social media posts from each company, as well as influencers, and will include targeted digital media to educate and engage both new and existing consumers. The campaign will include infographics about product attributes and social media giveaways on each brand’s social channels.
Participating brands include:
- Boochcraft
- Flying Embers
- Jiant Hard Kombucha
- Kombrewcha (Anheuser-Busch InBev)
- KYLA Hard Kombucha (Full Sail Brewing)
- Local Roots Kombucha
- Luna Bay Booch
- Nova Easy Kombucha
- Strainge Beast Hard Kombucha (Sierra Nevada)
- Wild Tonic Jun Kombucha
Much like the craft brewers of the 1980s and 1990s, those companies are hoping to introduce more consumers to the emerging segment. They hope that recent accolades — including being named on trend lists by Whole Foods (Top Food Trends for 2021) and Instacart (New Year, New Cart) — will help the segment break out. And there’s still a lot of runway ahead.
Hard kombucha sales increased 128.5%, to $582.9 million in 2020, Bump Williams Consulting (BWC) reported, citing NielsenIQ all channel, plus liquor and convenience sales data. The segment accounted for just .1% dollar share of the overall beer category in 2020, BWC’s Dave Williams shared during a recent edition of Brewbound Data Club. Although the segment is a fractional share of the overall category, Williams said there remains a lot of distribution expansion opportunities out there as retailers look for more so-called “better-for-you” options.
Brian “BK” Krueger, VP of business development and portfolio strategies at BWC, added that retailers will be allocating more shelf space to those products in the spring shelf resets.
“You’re going to see big gains in distribution, that’s going to lead to more share, more exposure on the national level and a little more weight for that category moving forward,” he said.
Hard kombucha sales so far have been heavily weighted to the West Coast markets, accounting for 20% share of FMB dollar sales on the West Coast, compared to 5% share of FMBs nationally.
So how does the hard kombucha segment break through with consumers in those underdeveloped markets? Alex Bozich, general manager of A-B-owned Kombrewcha, said there are three keys to winning over those consumers in less developed markets: “widespread education on the category and brands, shelf space at key retailers, and accessible and delicious beverages that consumers will love and want to consume over and over again.”
“For us, we see this goal in reach — year over year, the continued growth and success of the category brings us one step closer, and this unified campaign proves that we can collectively build momentum together,” he said.
Over the last year, Bozich said hard kombucha makers have also made headway in winning over retailers.
“The category has grown exponentially in the conventional channel and is even outpacing the natural channel,” he said. “Where we once had to fight for shelf space, we’re now starting to see more opportunity.
“In mature markets where retailers are on our side, we can really focus on individual brand storytelling, versus always having to focus on why the category itself is important,” he added. “In less mature markets, there is still the element of selling the category as well as our own brands, but we have great data to support why we should be given shelf space and the opportunity to build out this great category.”
So how will these kombucha makers define success for the campaign?
“We will know we are on the right path when we see a growth in people’s desire and enthusiasm for better-for-you alcoholic beverages,” Tiago Carneiro, co-founder of Nova Easy Kombucha and Novo Brazil Brewing Company, said. “Every brand brings something to the table and we’re excited to see this category’s trajectory to success.”