Blake’s Beverage Co. is looking to be a leader in not just hard cider, but all “fruit-forward fourth category innovation,” founder and CEO Andrew Blake told Brewbound.
Efforts to equalize the tax rate for ready-to-drink canned cocktails with beer in New Jersey have picked up steam in recent weeks.
Everybody’s talking about RTDs, and for good reason. The ready-to-drink (RTD) beverage alcohol segment is absolutely exploding, with that growth triggering a slew of new brands and products entering the market.
While they may be restrictive with distribution, the Atlanta-headquartered company is anything but with their product line-up, transitioning from a craft brewery into a total beverage company.
At present, malt- and sugar-based RTDs, such as Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw and Boston Beer Company’s Truly Hard Seltzer, can be sold at beer distributors, which offer retail beer sales. Wine-based RTDs are available at Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board-run (PLCB) stores and off-premise retailers licensed to sell wine. However, spirits-based RTDs are only available via the PLCB’s stores.
Wilson Craig has a founder’s story that should be familiar to many in the beverage space: Dissatisfied with the available options in a category, he set about creating his own product to fill the “blind spot” in the market — in this case, ready-to-drink spirits. While working in real estate finance in New York City, he and his friends noticed “their bodies starting to change” as calories and carbs from drinking light beer began to catch up to them. The answer? Waterbird Spirits, a line of premium ready-to-drink cocktails in 12 oz. cans.
