Athletic Brewing has partnered with L.A. Libations-owned mixer maker Arriba Chelada to produce a ready-to-drink non-alcoholic michelada, Chelada Nada, rolling out to stores in the Southwest this month.
As an L.A. Libations partner brand, the collaboration came about through conversations between Athletic co-founder and CEO Bill Shufelt, L.A. Libations CEO Danny Stepper and Arriba general manager Tim Wright. According to Stepper, the two companies originally began working together after he discovered the brand in stores and the idea of a co-branded product arrived naturally.
“It’s kind of at the intersection of a few different categories, where a lot of beer and seltzer are down either single or double digits year-to-date, you have non-alcoholic up double digits, the michelada category up double digits, Mexican imports up double digits, so it was an intersection of really fast growing categories, which is totally coincidental,” Shufelt said. “It just happened to be that we’re putting a delicious product into two really fast growing categories.”
The NA brew is a light lager made with a specialty blend of Arriba’s michelada mix formulated specially for the collaboration, according to Wright and Shufelt. The drink will be priced in line with Athletic’s other beers at around $10.99 per 6-pack of 12 oz. cans.
Chelada Nada is available in Texas, Arizona and Southern California, and will launch direct-to-consumer on Athletic’s website next week. Although Shufelt said the release is a pilot launch, the michelada format could potentially lead to an expanded line if consumer demand proves strong.
The product is available in H-E-B and BevMo! stores with more accounts expected to come online in the coming weeks. As well, Shufelt said Chelada Nada provides opportunity for Athletic to expand its footprint in on-premise accounts, noting the drink is ideal for brunches and bars and restaurants. A michelada may also give Athletic additional traction with Hispanic consumers, as major alcoholic beer producers have embraced the category as a means of growing their sales with the Latino demographic.
“If you look at what’s going on in the category, there’s definitely room to expand,” Stepper said. “I think Modelo has four chelada SKUs, Bud Light has launched three new ones, Budweiser has a few. So there’s room to extend [the category]. We kind of have the same mindset that it’s up to the consumer to decide, so we’re going to put it out there and we think we’ve got something great.”
For Arriba, the collaboration will also help grow brand awareness. The mixer brand, which received an investment from Molson Coors Beverage Company in 2020, is primarily sold throughout the Southwest but is now expanding its national presence with retailers such as Walmart and H-E-B.
“Going into Florida is something we’re going to focus on for the second half of 2022 and beginning of 2023,” Wright said. “Our velocity with the brand is on fire, especially what’s happening with VPOs, it’s really phenomenal. I really believe it’s because consumers recognize our products … are made with high quality ingredients, it makes a difference and people recognize that.”