Double Punch Hard Juice, a new hard juice contender from Philadelphia-based Two Robbers Hard Seltzer, will enter the ring next month.
“We’ve been developing this idea for over a year, as a way to bridge the highly sessionable and low-calorie, zero-sugar nature of hard seltzers with the full-flavor full-texture aspects of FMBs [flavored malt beverages] and craft beer,” co-founder and CEO Vikram Nayar said in a press release. “We see this as an exciting and natural addition to the Two Robbers portfolio, that allows us to sit in multiple parts of the beer store.”
The 8% ABV hard juice will be available in mango and black cherry. Both flavors will be sold in a 12 oz. variety 8-pack, 19.2 oz. single-serve cans, and mango will be available in 12 oz. 6-packs. It is slated to roll out to Two Robbers’ full 12-state footprint in April.
With the new offering, the craft hard seltzer brand hopes to pull drinkers from across segments with Double Punch, which most aligns with FMBs, the segment with the second-largest growth in the category thus far in 2023. Year-to-date through February 26, off-premise dollar sales of FMBs increased +21.5%, to $511.3 million, at multi-outlet grocery and convenience stores, according to market research firm Circana. Only non-alcoholic beer (+32.7%) surpassed them.
“From a product and taste standpoint, we see the Double Punch as sitting in between hard seltzer and FMBs,” Nayar told Brewbound. “It’s loaded with real fruit, which gives a much more full bodied taste than a typical hard seltzer, but is still lower in calories and sugar than most leading FMBs.”
Double Punch joins a growing lineup of hard juices. In November, Oklahoma City-based COOP Beverage Works announced it had struck a licensing agreement with juice maker Tampico to introduce Tampico Hard Punch (8% ABV). Last week, New Belgium announced the impending arrival of Wild Nectar Hard Punch (5% ABV) in four test markets.
Last year, Molson Coors launched Simply Spiked, a line of hard fruited lemonades produced under a license agreement with Coca-Cola, which owns the Simply juice brand. Since its June 2022, launch, the Simply Spiked variety pack has reached $67 million in off-premise sales at multi-outlet grocery and convenience stores through February 26, according to Circana.
“With it being 8% ABV and its bright opaque presentation, our hope is that this product could have real legs in draft format,” Nayar said. “To date, seltzers have obviously struggled to crack on-premise draft (today most of Two Robbers’ on-premise business is [in] package).
“We could see this product sort of working like a draft cider — a strong gluten-free alternative to include on a draft menu, that has the beautiful presentation and richness that works well in draft,” he continued.
Although Double Punch belongs to a different segment than Two Robbers’ core, Nayar sees the brand’s existing drinkers embracing the product for new occasions.
“We tend to draw customers that are craft beer drinkers, and are OK with paying a premium for a higher quality product,” Nayar said. “In some ways I think that same customer will love the Double Punch product, albeit a different drinking experience. And like I mentioned, our hope is to bring new customers to the Two Robbers brand from the FMB category.”
Nayar and his twin brother Vivek Nayar founded Two Robbers in 2017, when the nascent hard seltzer segment was a tiny fraction of its current size. They launched the product in the spring of 2019, just in time for what was dubbed the “Summer of Seltzer.” However, the shift in consumer spending to the off-premise driven by the COVID-19 pandemic introduced hard seltzer to new consumers and the segment skyrocketed.
In the first two months of 2023, hard seltzer dollar sales accounted for 7.59% of all beer category dollars (a share loss of -1.59% compared to last year). Dollar sales have declined -13.7% compared to the same period in 2022, according to Circana. The leading national hard seltzer, Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw, has grown in both dollar sales (+6.7%) and case sales (+1.9%), but other nationally distributed brands have struggled.
“It’s definitely been a rough start to the year for the seltzer category, there’s no doubt about that,” Nayar said. “We’re seeing a major contraction in the number of brands out there on shelves, so while it’s a shrinking pie, there’s also less brands we’re competing with now than last year or the year before this time.”
For the most part, standalone brands — such as White Claw and Molson Coors’ Top Chico Hard Seltzer — are noticeably gaining share as opposed to those connected to larger beer brands, such as Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud Light Seltzer and Constellation Brands’ Corona Hard Seltzer, Nayar said.
“There’s no doubt that the category is going to shrink this year, but our hope is that we can continue to gain market share through that ‘right sizing’ and come out a stronger company,” he added.
Two Robbers is among the brands “that are winning now” in its footprint, which includes Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., Nayar said.
Pennsylvania, its home state, and New York are Two Robbers’ strongest markets. New York City sells nearly as much Two Robbers by volume as Philadelphia, Nayar said. Two Robbers is the fifth best-selling hard seltzer in Philly and No. 7 in New York City.
“It’s important to just remember the overall scale here of the category. Very few bev-alc categories get to the scale that hard seltzer has reached, let alone in this short time frame,” he said. “We’re still looking at a category that is larger than the entirety of FMBs, cider, hard kombucha, etc. The big question right now, in our mind, is where does it level out, and which brands are left with real market share.”
In late December 2022, Two Robbers opened its first own-premise establishment in Philly’s Fishtown neighborhood, a taproom with full bar service that specializes in burgers. Even though the concept of a taproom from a hard seltzer brand had the potential “to be a little bit of an uphill battle, the space is “definitely a risk we’re glad we took,” Nayar said.
“The space has been packed every week since opening, and has allowed us to directly engage, in real life, with thousands of our existing and new customers,” he continued. “The beverage program and overall experience is definitely landing well.”