Simply Spiked Partners with NBCU, Will Be Featured in Peacock Original ‘Bel-Air’
Some of the extra marketing spend Molson Coors promised during its Q4 earnings call with investors this week is already coming to fruition.
NBC Universal (NBCU) announced its brand partners for the second season of the Peacock original series Bel-Air, and on the list is “first-time show partner”, Molson Coors-owned Simply Spiked.
Bel-Air is a modern take on NBC’s ‘90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Simply Spiked will be featured in the show as part of character Hilary Banks’ storyline of finding “her place within the influencer industry.”
“We’re so excited to partner with Bel-Air for their second season,” Joy Ghosh, Molson Coors VP of marketing, above premium and FMB, said in a press release. “With Hillary’s meta storyline, we’ve found that both [actress] Coco Jones and her onscreen persona match the energy of the Simply Spiked brand in ways that complement each other. We can’t wait for fans to see what Simply Spiked and Hillary have up their sleeves this season.”
Simply Spiked will be “integrated across multiple episodes” on this season of Bel-Air, with “characters having dialogue about the brand as well as product visuals,” a NBCU spokesperson told Brewbound.
“Specifically, the brand is tied closely with one of the main characters, Hilary Banks as she is an up and coming influencer and trying to find her place within the industry with Simply Spiked being part of her storyline,” the spokesperson said.
Molson Coors released Simply Spiked, a 5% ABV FMB inspired by Coca Cola’s Simply Lemonade, in June. The launch exceeded expectations, and Molson Coors found themselves “unable to meet demand,” CEO Gavin Hattersley said during Tuesday’s conference call. The company has since put a “process in place” to meet projected demand, and will expand the brand with a Peach flavor later this year.
Molson Coors leadership discussed some of the company’s 2023 priorities this week, including a continued focus on its core beer brands. In beyond beer, the company is focused on existing innovations – such as Simply Spiked and Topo Chico Hard Seltzer – rather than pushing out new products.
To support those innovations, Molson Coors is increasing its marketing spend in 2023, with a focus on media spend in digital channels.
“We’ve completely changed our approach to media to make sure that our dollars work really hard for us,” Hattersley said. “We’ve also completely overhauled our approach to performance-based marketing to make sure that we get the absolute best return on ad spend and to maximize our effectiveness.”
Bel-Air is “the most watched Peacock original series” on the streaming platform, according to the release. The show also features a Black main cast, speaking to a more diverse consumer base. Simply Spiked was able to “have a real groundswell with” Black consumers at launch, due to those consumers’ existing relationship with the Simply juice brand, enabling the FMB to “recruit consumers in” in a way other bev-alc brands have failed to do, Ghosh said last summer during the Brewbound Podcast.
McDermott, Will & Emery: Spirits-Based RTDs May Need Extra Care When Considering Wholesaler Contracts
Cross-category innovation can have legal and regulatory ramifications that may surprise some suppliers, McDermott, Will & Emery counsel Nichole Shustack said during a webinar last week.
Shustack and partner Alva Mather reviewed beverage-alcohol law developments in 2022 and looked ahead to 2023. In addition to recapping topics covered in a November webinar, Shustack touched on the flood of spirits-based, ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktails rushing into the market from suppliers across beer, wine and spirits.
“Innovation continues to be a trend,” she said. “We’re seeing it being driven by a lot of consumer preferences. RTDs have experienced tremendous growth, and we see a lot of industry members, obviously traditional spirits suppliers, but also cross-category entrants into this RTD space.”
When launching a spirits-based RTD, beer suppliers in particular should be aware of “the inherent differences between a beer wholesaler – a traditional beer wholesaler – and wine and spirits wholesaler when it comes down to contracts and negotiating those terms within your contracts,” Shustack said.
“The beer folks are used to having franchise protections,” she added. “So, they negotiate like they have contract protections, even though they might not for a spirits product.”
The lack of franchise protections also affects multiples when rights are sold.
“The beer guys are used to getting five, six times, depending on where you are in the market, for products and that hasn’t traditionally been the case for wine and spirits, mostly because of the lack of franchise law,” Shustack said. “We’re seeing this interesting blurring of categories and that as being a pressure point within the innovation space.”
A-B Investing $6M in Portsmouth, New Hampshire Brewery
Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) is investing $6 million at its production facility in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to install a new canning line which is expected to increase production by 56% in 2024, according to a press release issued last week.
The canning line, which came online early this year, sits in the brewery’s 92,000 sq. ft. production space and packages beer, cider and hard tea.
A-B became the brewery’s owner when it acquired Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) in 2020. Founding CBA member Redhook Brewery built it in 1996 as an “exact replica” of its original brewery in Woodinville, Washington. CBA transformed its onsite pub into a Cisco Brewers-branded taproom in 2018.
Following the announcement of the investment, news broke that A-B has laid off employees across a variety of brands in its Brewers Collective, the craft-centric business unit that also includes CBA.
Reyes-Owned Monarch Beverage Investing $73M in New Warehouse
Monarch Beverage, the Indiana-based subsidiary the Reyes Beverage Group acquired in 2020, announced plans to build a new $73 million facility in Indianapolis, according to Inside Indiana Business.
Monarch’s new 450,000 sq. ft. facility will sit on 44 acres at a new industrial park. Reyes is set to spend $9 million on the land, $53 million on the building, $5.9 million on machinery and hardware, and $1.2 million on infrastructure, according to Inside Indiana Business.
Once complete, 500 employees will work at the warehouse at an average wage of $35 per hour.
“Monarch Distributing is excited about the development of a new, state-of-the-art facility,” Reyes midwest market president Ryan Anderson told Inside Indiana Business in a statement. “This represents a significant investment not only in our business but also our employees and the community and will include great employee amenities like an on-site gym, bike parking, trail access and an outdoor break area.”
The lease for Monarch’s current Indianapolis-area facility in nearby Lawrence will expire in late 2023, after which the wholesaler will move into its new location.
Monarch delivers more than 16 million cases annually to 7,240 retail customers in Indiana, according to its website.
Bill Gates Acquires 3.8% Stake in Heineken Holding Worth $902 Million
Billionaire entrepreneur Bill Gates has acquired a minority stake in Heineken Holding NV, the controlling shareholder of Heineken NV, valued at $902 million, Bloomberg reported.
Gates now holds a 3.8% stake in Heineken Holding, consisting of 6.65 million shares credited to himself individually, and 4.18 million shares bought through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, of which Gates and his ex-wife Melinda are trustees. The shares are valued at €848.2 million ($902 million), according to the closing share price value on February 17, Bloomberg reported.
At the same time, Mexico-based FEMSA, a multinational beverage and retail company, and independent Coca-Cola bottler, offloaded all 18 million of its shares in Heineken Holding. Gates is also a FEMSA shareholder.
Heineken Holding controls a 50% stake in Heineken, which is also the parent company of Amstel Brewery (Netherlands), Birra Moretti (Italy) and Sol Beer (Mexico).
Heineken increased its net revenue +21.2% year-over-year (YoY) in 2022, and total consolidated volume +6.4%, the Dutch brewery reported earlier this month. Beer volume increased +6.9% versus 2021, and +2.7% versus 2019, led by growth in the Asia Pacific and on-premise recovery in Europe. In the Americas, Heineken beer volume increased +3.7% YoY.
The Michael James Jackson Foundation Names Latest 8 Scholarship Awardees
The Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing and Distilling (MJF) has awarded eight scholarships to beer industry professionals in its latest round of grants aimed to help Black, Indigenous, and people of color advance in the brewing and distilling industries.
The MJF began the scholarship program in 2021 to help counteract barriers for people trying to join the bev-alc workforce. Over the past two years, the Sir Geoff Palmer Scholarship Award for Brewing and the Nearest Green Scholarship Award for Distilling has been awarded to 29 individuals, according to a press release.
The latest scholarship recipients include:
Deshawn Agbonze (Sir Geoff Palmer Scholarship Award for Brewing)
- Agbonze is head brewer at Mastry’s Brewing Co. in St. Pete Beach, Florida. He will be using the scholarship to “take his professionalism to the next level by bridging any technical gaps.” He also intends to help the Florida Brewers Guild with its latest attempts to provide technical resources to members.
Sofia Betanzos (Sir Geoff Palmer Scholarship Award for Brewing)
- Betanzos works in the cellar at Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn, New York. She recently completed a degree in chemical engineering, and with this scholarship, she “plans on expanding her knowledge on beer and furthering her presence in this industry.”
Tony Jaquez (Sir Geoff Palmer Scholarship Award for Brewing)
- Jaquez works at Outsider Brewing Company, “a small operation brewery/craft studio,” in Asheville, North Carolina. His future plans include returning to his hometown of Tijuana, Mexico, and opening a brewery that “serves as a hub for people to learn and be part of such a fulfilling industry.”
Jamaar Julal (Sir Geoff Palmer Scholarship Award for Brewing)
- Julal is the director of fermentation at Honeysuckle Provisions and co-founder of JamBrü Ferments, a Philadelphia-based hard kombucha company. He plans to use the scholarship to continue his sake education, and make “the budding U.S. sake industry into a diverse and inclusive one that showcases people of all backgrounds.”
Kevin Limon (Sir Geoff Palmer Scholarship Award for Brewing)
- Limon is the lead brewer at Angry Horse Brewing in Montebello, California. With his scholarship, he will be attending the Master Brewers Association of the Americas’ Brewing and Malting Science course.
Isabella Perez (Sir Geoff Palmer Scholarship Award for Brewing)
- Perez is a shift lead at Hood River, Oregon-based pFriem Family Brewers, as well as a part-time production employee at Goldendale, Washington-based Dwinell Country Ales and an online teaching assistant at the UC Davis extension program for courses in beer quality. She intends to one day open a farmhouse brewery “that can provide sustainably made community supported beer and agriculture to a wider and more diverse population.”
Eric Pham (Sir Geoff Palmer Scholarship Award for Brewing)
- Pham is the head brewer and innovation brewer at Prison City Brewing in Auburn, New York. He has previously worked at Boston-based Trillium Brewing Company; Charlton, Massachusetts-based Tree House Brewing Company; and Brooklyn, New York-based Other Half Brewing. He hopes to “give back to the brewing community” with his scholarship “by being a better leader and inspiring people from all backgrounds to explore this industry.”
Chantel Starks (Nearest Green Scholarship Award for Distilling)
- Starks is a distiller for Corsair Distillery in Nashville, Tennessee. She found her desire for distilling while working as a tour guide for her local craft distillery in Savannah, Georgia.
More information on all the scholarship winners can be found on the MJF Instagram page. The next round of scholarships will be awarded in June.