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.
The founders of Sunboy, a spiked sparkling coconut water, initially got together slanging fresh coconuts at events and parties in New York. The two hosted parties on the Brooklyn Bridge selling coconuts from a bicycle, eventually growing the enterprise to offer the experience at food and corporate events. But when the pandemic put those events and that hustle to a stop, Luke McKenna and Yair Tygiel were forced to come up with another product: a hard coconut water.
After more than a year under the wing of Molson Coors, spirits-based, ready-to-drink canned cocktail maker Superbird will leave the nest as Molson Coors hands the reins to the brand’s distribution efforts back to its parent company, Casa Komos Brands Group (CKBG).
With tequila and ready-to-drink cocktails becoming two of the hottest alcohol categories, Lance Collins is looking to have a hand in both. As the founder and chairman of tequila soda brand Casa Azul, launching today, the beverage mogul behind Fuze, NOS, BodyArmor and Core is confident his new line of tequila soda will hit the sweet spot for consumers of spirit-based canned cocktails who enjoy the low-ABV and low-calorie qualities of a hard seltzer.
Spirits company The CoreBev Group has partnered with cold brew coffee brand RISE Brewing Co. for its latest canned cocktail launch, Moonlight Barista.
Anheuser-Busch InBev reported +11.3% revenue growth and +3.4% volume growth globally for the second quarter of 2022. “Our business delivered sustained profitable growth,” CEO Michel Doukeris said in a press release. “Our volume increased by 3.4%, our top-line by 11.3% and EBITDA by 7.2%. The relentless execution of our strategy, the strength of our brands and accelerated digital transformation enabled us to meet the moment in an ongoing dynamic operating environment.”
Flying Embers, a Ojai, California-based hard kombucha and hard seltzer-maker, continues to explore “fourth category” beverage alcohol.
Total beer off-premise spending reached $1.104 billion for the week ending July 3, marking the category’s highest sales week of the year so far. Only the weeks that included July 4 in 2020 and 2021 saw stronger beer sales than this year’s holiday week.
Last month The Coca-Cola Company and Brown-Forman announced the launch of a new Jack & Coke ready-to-drink (RTD) product— but eager U.S. drinkers will have to wait. The new beverage will first launch in Mexico, sparking the question: as RTD growth spreads globally, where are major suppliers headed next, and what will they be looking for?
Following the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s (NJABC) move to enforce special conditions that restrict craft breweries’ ability to host events and offer food, state Sen. Michael Testa has announced he will introduce a bill to counter the restrictions.
Vita Coco is the latest non-alcoholic beverage giant to dip its toes into the RTD cocktail space, announcing today a collaboration with spirits conglomerate Diageo to release a line of coconut water spiked with Captain Morgan white rum.
The Beer Institute (BI) has called the RTD regulatory changes signed into law last week in Vermont a “massive handout” for the spirits industry, and warned legislators of the impact it will have on taxpayers, in a blog post Thursday.
“Stronger Together” was the theme of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States’ (DISCUS’) annual conference, held last week in New Orleans.
With more drinkers reaching for tequila-based ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails, mezcal versions could seem like a natural next step considering the spirit’s recent rise. Madre Mezcal, a brand with a foothold in the mezcal market is the most recent to launch their version, a 5% ABV can called Desert Water that comes in four flavors. Meanwhile, Elenita, which launched as the first mezcal RTD in 2020, has been steadily growing their distribution. But unlike other agave spirit RTDs, they might not get much competition for a while – the supply chain challenges are just that big
IRI-defined ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages (RTDs) have recorded nearly $9 billion in sales over the last 52 weeks (ending June 5) in IRI tracked off-premise channels (multi-outlet plus convenience), according to the market research firm.
