Read the latest beyond beer news relating to companies involved with RTD cocktails, hard cider, hard seltzer, hard kombucha, spirits, cannabis, and non-alcoholic products. Take a comprehensive look at developments in these evolving sectors, offering valuable insights into the innovations, trends, and market forces shaping the world of beer and beyond.
Submit News
Involved in the beyond beer space and have company or product news? Submit your news.
Molson Coors has struck a deal to acquire spirits-based, ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail pioneer Atomic Brands, whose Monaco Cocktails entered the then-nascent space in 2012. The deal should come as no surprise, as it aligns with Molson Coors’ goals to expand its beyond beer portfolio, part of the Horizon 2030 plan CEO Rahul Goyal outlined earlier this year.
Two new members have been elected to the American Cider Associations (ACA) board of directors, the hard cider industry trade group announced last week.
The 15th annual CiderCon took place in Chicago earlier this month, drawing about 850 attendees and cider industry members to the Windy City for the American Cider Association’s (ACA) annual industry conference and trade show.
Lone River Beverage Company has come a long way in a short amount of time. Acquired by Diageo less than two years after launching amidst the pandemic, Lone River’s Ranch Water is now sold nationwide and leads the agave seltzer category in dollar share and rate of sale, according to latest 13-week NielsenIQ data shared by Lone River founder and CEO Katie Beal Brown.
With sales of spirits-based ready-to-drink canned cocktails continuing to boom, battles for turf in the cold box can be tracked to statehouses across the country. And spirit makers are looking for some low-cost ammo: While beer has historically enjoyed favorable excise tax rates, spirit makers are attempting to change those laws, they say, to level the playing field for products of similar ABVs and package sizes.
Athletic Brewing has partnered with L.A. Libations-owned mixer maker Arriba Chelada to produce a ready-to-drink non-alcoholic michelada, Nada Chelada, rolling out to stores in the Southwest this month.
Boston Beer Company is maintaining its guidance of 4% to 10% volume growth in 2022, despite first quarter losses, the company’s leadership team shared during an earnings call with investors Friday.
Retail sales of Molson Coors Beverage Company’s Topo Chico Hard Seltzer increased +67% year-over-year (YOY) in Q1 2022 compared to Q1 2021, according to the most recent “Beverage Bytes” retailer survey by Goldman Sachs analyst Bonnie Herzog.
Between non-alcoholic spirits, beers, wines and mocktails, the options for consumers have boomed over the past few years, but the rise of this category has also presented a challenge for retail buyers – raising questions of where in the store these zero proof products belong. Now, as retailers expand their NA offerings, some stores such as Washington-based Town & Country Markets, are creating sets exclusively dedicated to the new wave of non-alcoholic adult beverages.
Matt Brown had worked with entrepreneurs for more than 20 years, but it was his first beverage client who lured him into craft spirits. Now, the business advisor and entrepreneur is all in, with two partners who are focused on investing in craft spirits brands that have stories that make a splash.
Another independent canned cocktail maker boarded the “mother ship” last week when Constellation Brands announced the full acquisition of Austin Cocktails. It’s a move that’s in-step with the other global beverage companies picking up fast-growing RTD producers — but observers in the industry caution that the deal may not be the harbinger future RTD acquisitions.
Boston-headquartered fruited hard seltzer maker Willie’s Superbrew has laid off most of its staff and is considering a sale of the brand, according to Good Beer Hunting.
Waterbird Spirits, the Charlottesville, Virginia-headquartered spirits maker, which specializes in canned ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails, is the first beverage-alcohol brand in the country to use resealable lids on 24 oz. single-serve cans, effectively opening up the convenience store channel more widely to spirits-based RTDs.
Wings & Arrow, the brand house of Ashland Hard Seltzer and Villager Spirits canned cocktails, has closed a $10 million funding round, which will help support production of its existing and upcoming beyond beer offerings.
Anthony Spina and Matt Sievers – who’ve worked on brands such as Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw and Mike’s Hard Lemonade and Pabst Blue Ribbon – have launched their own endeavor: Primer Electrolyte Charged Hard Seltzers.
San Diego-headquartered JuneShine released its first commercial campaign today, promoting its recently launched ready-to-drink, spirits-based canned cocktails with the tagline of “Dodge the Sugar.” Beer buyers’ behavior has “continued to revert to pre-pandemic trends” for the third consecutive month, according to the National Beer Wholesalers Association’s (NBWA) March Beer Purchasers’ Index (BPI).
Off-premise dollar sales of ready-to-drink canned cocktails (RTDs) and hard seltzers have more than doubled in the past three years, increasing +155% since 2019 (through January 8, 2022), according to NielsenIQ data, shared by the Beer Institute’s (BI) VP of research Danelle Kosmal during a webinar Thursday.
