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.
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.
As products made through its beverage-alcohol licensing partnerships gain steam at retail, Coca-Cola has agreed to share profits from those brand extensions with U.S. bottlers, Beverage Digest reported.
In two years, Loverboy has expanded distribution of its hard teas from four states to 44, partially initiated by retail partnerships with Total Wine and Kroger. To support the rapid expansion, the company is focused on “trying to grow into [its] own shoes” in 2023, founder and CEO Kyle Cooke told Brewbound.
Draft sales on the night before Thanksgiving declined -17.1% compared to the same day in 2021, on-premise data firm BeerBoard reported. Drizly reported that ready-to-drink canned cocktails increased sales nearly +40% on the e-commerce alcohol delivery platform this Thanksgiving weekend compared to the holiday in 2021.
San Francisco-based Cellarmaker Brewing Company has acquired The Rare Barrel and its facility in Berkeley, California. Two days before the 2022 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to kick off in Qatar, the country has said it will not allow beer sales at the event, walking back previous expectations, The New York Times reported.
Ahead of last week’s midterm elections, the Brewers Association’s (BA) federal and government affairs teams shared the trade group’s 2023 legislative priorities during a “Collab Hour” webinar.
Trade groups across beer and spirits continue to fight over whether spirits-based, ready-to-drink canned cocktails (RTDs) should be taxed at the same as malt-based alternatives. The argument came to a head this month when Public Sector Consultants (PSC), a Lansing, Michigan-based public policy consulting firm, released a study claiming decreased excise tax rates for spirits-based RTDs have cost consumers more on shelf.
San Diego-based JuneShine – a hard kombucha and ready-to-drink canned cocktail (RTD) maker – is on track to produce more than one million cases (about 72,580 barrels) in 2022.
With spirit-based, ready-to-drink versions of popular hard seltzers on the way, has the era of the RTD trade-ups officially arrived?
Dogfish Head’s canned cocktails are gaining traction in the fast-growing spirits-based, ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktail market. Dollar sales of the Dogfish Head brand family (+92.3%) are outpacing the overall segment (+56.5%), according to NielsenIQ total U.S. all off-premise data, shared by Bump Williams Consulting.
Topo Chico’s fated move into hard spirits is coming in 2023, via Molson Coors. On the heels of the fast-growing Topo Chico Hard Seltzer brand, Molson Coors will launch a spirit-based version of Topo Chico in key markets, such as the southwest and southeast and parts of the Midwest.
Ready-to-drink beverage-alcohol (RTDs) has crossed into every alcoholic-beverage category, with spirits-based and wine-based RTDs, hard seltzers, flavored malt beverages (FMBs) and more.
Total beverage-alcohol dollar sales increased +9.3% during Labor Day weekend compared to the prior week, market research firm IRI reported.
Light lager (+9%) and American lager (+19%) both grew share of sales on e-commerce alcohol delivery platform Drizly over Labor Day weekend compared to the holiday weekend in 2021, the company reported.
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.
