The Coca-Cola Company is accelerating its push into beverage alcohol with today’s announcement of a new global partnership with Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey to release a ready-to-drink cocktail.
Jack Daniel’s & Coca-Cola RTD, as the product was dubbed in a press release, will launch initially in Mexico in late 2022 before continuing a global rollout. The product, made with Coca-Cola and Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, contains 5% ABV in each 12 oz. can, and will also be available in a zero-sugar version.
“The relationship brings together two classic American icons to deliver consumers a taste experience they love in a way that is consistent, convenient and portable,” said Lawson Whiting, CEO and president of Brown-Forman Corporation, the parent company of Jack Daniel’s. “Brown-Forman has been a leader in the ready-to-drink category since we launched our first Jack Daniel’s RTD offerings, enabling us to accelerate expansion and continue to grow our business around the world.”
“We keep consumers at the center of everything we do as we continue to develop our portfolio as a total beverage company, and that includes new products with our iconic Coca-Cola brand,” said Coca-Cola chairman and CEO James Quincey. “We are excited about our new relationship with Brown-Forman and look forward to the introduction of Jack Daniel’s & Coca-Cola.”
Though the company has dabbled in beverage alcohol in the past, Coca-Cola’s interest in the segment has picked up momentum in recent years. Within the U.S., the soda giant has licensed its brands to third parties for use in alcoholic drinks; Topo Chico Hard Seltzer and Simply Spiked Lemonade are produced via partnership with beer giant Molson Coors, while Constellation Brands makes Fresca Mixed. Jack Daniel’s & Coca-Cola RTD will be the first alcoholic drink to carry Coke’s official branding and packaging.
In contrast, Jack Daniel’s has multiple RTD products on the market across a range of ABV levels and formats. Brown Forman announced a partnership with Pabst Brewing to produce, sell and distribute Jack Daniel’s Country Cocktails, the whiskey brand’s line of flavored malt beverages, beginning in April 2021. While Brown-Forman retained full ownership of Jack Daniel’s Country Cocktails’ trademarks and other assets, Pabst’s national accounts and field sales teams took over sales to distributors and retailers in the U.S. and domestic military markets.
Via the Pabst partnership, Brown Forman has landed on market research firm IRI’s list of top 25 beer category vendors in off-premise retailers with sales up 20%, to $24.4 million, year-to-date through May 15.
Along with Jack Daniel’s & Coca-Cola RTD, Coke’s products reflect its focus on three segments of RTD flavored beverage alcohol: hard seltzers, hard alternatives and pre-mixed cocktails.
In a separate statement, Khalil Younes, who leads Coke’s alcoholic beverage division, said the company was “strategically experimenting and learning in alcohol,” a mission that “will require effort and patience.”
“Our ambition is to grow our brands in a responsible and sustainable way to those who choose to consume and are over the legal purchase and drinking age,” Younes said.
Buoyed by continued growth from its flagship soda — Coca-Cola (+6%), Coca-Cola Zero Sugar (+14%) both expanded in Q1 this year — the Atlanta-based corporation has leaned into its trademark as of late, launching Coca-Cola With Coffee and now-defunct Coca-Cola Energy while unveiling Coca-Cola Creations, a “global innovation platform” that has released several LTO products so far this year. Outside of CSDs, it has recalibrated strategies around key segments like tea, coffee and juice, efforts which have seen brands Odwalla and most recently Honest Tea be discontinued.
In April, Coca-Cola Company announced net revenue was up 16% in Q1, to $10.5 billion, despite seeing its cost of goods rise 17%, to nearly $4 billion.