The Beast Unleashed, the first product born from Monster Beverage and CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective’s merger, will roar to life in January 2023.
Attendees of the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) conference in Las Vegas this week were the first outside of the company to sample the line of flavored malt beverages (FMBs). The Beast Unleashed (or the Beast, for short) checks in at 6% ABV and will be available in four flavors to start: Mean Green, White Haze, Peach Perfect and Scary Berries.
“This week was the first time that we’ve actually had people outside the company try it, and so the feedback against it was just fantastic,” VP of sales operations Renold Aparicio told Brewbound. “It was really big, and now we can check that box.
“The interesting thing is everybody has a different favorite flavor so that’s a signal to us, like ‘OK we got them right,’” he continued. “It’s not just one or two that they’re jazzed about, but all of them have had their time in the sun, so to speak, with the folks that have come up and tried them.”
Mean Green, White Haze and Peach Perfect will be available in 16 oz. single-serve cans, and all four flavors will be available in 12 oz. slim can variety 12-packs. For their first bev-alc launch under the Monster brand, the company sought inspiration from popular Monster energy drink flavors, Aparicio said.
“We’ve basically tried to mirror some of our best tasting flavors on the Monster side and bring them to the alcohol side, so [Mean Green] is essentially Monster,” he said. “If you have Monster Energy side by side with this, it’ll taste pretty damn close.”
White Haze mimics Monster Energy Zero Ultra, a zero-sugar energy drink with a light citrus flavor, while Peach Perfect analogs to Ultra Peachy Keen. Unlike their Monster-branded siblings, the Beast products do not contain caffeine.
The FMB segment is drastically outpacing overall beer and hard seltzer. FMBs grew dollar share +17% in the 13 weeks that ended August 28, an acceleration from the +13% growth recorded in the 26 weeks that ended August 28, according to data from market research firm IRI cited on Beast selling materials. Hard seltzers (-13% for the 13-week period, -11% for the 26-week period) and total beer (-2% L13W, -1% L26W) both lagged.
The package formats Monster selected both have significant runway and positive trends. Single-serve 16 oz. cans account for 14% of the FMB segment with +16% growth, and 12-pack cans hold a 16% share with +161% growth, according to IRI data. Single-serve 19-24 oz. cans account for 40% of the FMB segment, and have recorded +12% growth.
For the launch, Monster is deploying a staggered roll out via CANarchy’s distribution network, and already has “a lot of chain commitments,” Aparicio said. The Beast Unleashed will hit Phase One markets in January 2023: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina and Ohio.
Sixty days later, the brand will expand to Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Tennessee and Texas. The Beast Unleashed’s third phase is to reach nationwide distribution sixty days after that.
A phased rollout is markedly different from Monster’s traditional go-to-market strategy, so communication with buyers during NACS involved education about the process, Aparicio said.
“Really, it’s just letting them know, ‘Hey, we’re doing this in phases where we want to get it right out of the gate’ versus typically on the non-alcoholic side, we do Day One Minute One launches, where it’s everywhere on Day One,” he said. “In this case it’s not going to be that. We’re going to hit states early, build the brand, and then work with those chains in those launch dates, and then develop from there.”
The company expects legal-drinking-age Monster consumers to be early adopters of the Beast.
“Typically that’s a blue collar male, but obviously our white can skews female too,” Aparicio said. “So we’re hopeful that not just dudes will drink it, but the same type of consumer that Monster Energy has will be attracted to this product as well.”
To reach those drinkers, the company will rely on a similar experiential-driven playbook, which will include being “big into music, still big into action sports,” Aparicio said.
Monster has been open about its bev-alc ambitions since its $330 million acquisition of CANarchy was announced in January 2022. However, Monster executives have been adamant that future bev-alc products not bear the Monster name, which paved the way for the Beast Unleashed.
“I actually am vehemently opposed to putting a brand that’s a strong consumer brand onto an alcoholic product,” co-CEO Hilton Schlosberg said during a January 2022 conference call with investors. “I think it’s just opening up for major issues down the road … This vision of kids being stopped, and they claim that they thought they were drinking non-alcoholic products.”
However, the Beast’s visual identity is in line with core Monster products and includes the brand’s signature logo. Aparicio said the team approached the Beast with the same flavor-driven innovation it brings to the Monster brand.
“The brand has to be strong, and we’re obviously leaning on the Monster equity, so we can check that box,” he said. “We have to have a good network to be able to sell through and we’re working on that. We’re doing a phased approach to ensure that we have that, and the product’s got to taste good, obviously.”
Monster is already looking ahead for its bev-alc offerings, both in terms of new Beast flavors and new brand families. Killer Kiwi is the next flavor, and will be followed by a yet-to-be-finalized orange. The company is also “eager to develop hard teas,” Aparicio said.