Firestone Walker leadership spent the majority of the company’s virtual meeting with wholesalers Monday mapping out plans for its No. 1 brand, 805.
However, the Paso Robles, California-based craft brewery’s other three core brands – Cali Squeeze, Mind Haze and Firestone – round out the portfolio to poise the company for “some of the best success that we’ve ever had,” CMO Dustin Hinz said.
(Read Brewbound’s coverage of Firestone Walker’s 805 strategy here).
Cali Squeeze
For Cali Squeeze – the flavor-forward beer brand Firestone Walker acquired from SLO Brewing in 2021 – the company plans to take a “more focused, strategic approach” in 2024, brand director Hannah Barnett said.
Firestone will prioritize Cali Squeeze Blood Orange beer, the top offering under the brand, as well as its Cali Squeeze variety pack. Both offerings have significantly outpaced off-premise category trends in the last 52 weeks (ending August 12), according to NIQ data shared by 3 Tier Beverages:
- Cali Squeeze Blood Orange dollar sales are up +83.5% year-over-year (YoY), while volume is up +78.4%;
- Dollar sales for the Cali Squeeze variety pack are up +115.4%, while volume is up +115.2%;
- Comparatively, beer category dollar sales were up +3.1% in the 52-week period, while volume was down -2.7%.
That growth has only accelerated this summer. In the last four weeks, Cali Squeeze Blood Orange dollar sales are up +86% YoY and volume is up +82.7%. In the same four-week period, dollar sales for the brand’s variety pack were up +134.9% YoY, while volume increased +124.5%.
The overall Cali Squeeze brand increased dollar sales +69.1% and volume +65.5% in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels in the 52-week period. In Firestone’s home state of California, Cali Squeeze is up +45% year-to-date and has the “second highest growth trend amongst brewers in California,” Barnett said.
Firestone plans to continue the growth of its Cali Squeeze variety pack, which is now a top 10 assorted pack in California, according to Barnett. The craft brewery will launch a new variety 12-pack in spring 2024 with three pack exclusive flavors, including a new flavor: Peach Pomegranate.
“This beer has been testing off the charts amongst our sensory panels and is a hit at the taproom, so we’re excited for the renewed energy that it will bring to our already successful variety pack,” Barnett said.
Firestone also hopes to capitalize on consumer wants for higher ABV and single-serve offerings with a 9% ABV Extra Lemon Chill 19.2 oz can offering. Firestone sees great opportunity for the imperial lemon wheat ale in the convenience channel.
Additionally, Firestone hopes to expand distribution of the Cali Squeeze brand in 2024 and is asking for 1-to-1 distribution with Molson Coors’ Blue Moon in both the on- and off-premise. The brand’s footprint will remain the same with 27 states.
Firestone is aiming for Blood Orange to achieve 70% distribution in California and Arizona, and for the variety pack to achieve 50% distribution in the two key states. The company also plans to grow the brand’s chain placements, with Blood Orange claiming 40% distribution in California and Arizona chains and the variety pack aiming for 25% distribution.
Firestone also plans to “target weaker wheats” and be more strategic in its retail placements so as not to cannibalize its own brands.
“We want to not accept replacing our own business. I think we do too much of that as an organization,” Firestone chief sales officer Tony Amaral said.
Additionally, the company plans to “parasite 12-pack variety pack displays on the backs of these big Blue Moon displays that are out in market” as it hopes to gain ground on the No. 1 craft brand.
Mind Haze
Firestone Walker’s hazy IPA brand Mind Haze has long been the company’s No. 2 largest brand family, competing in “arguably in the most competitive segment within craft today,” Amaral said.
The brand has been in decline, with three of its four core offerings posting double-digit declines in the last 52 weeks in NIQ-tracked channels:
- Mind Haze IPA dollar sales are down -19%, while volume is down -24.3%;
- Mind Haze Double IPA dollar sales are down -11.8%, while volume is down -13.2%;
- And Mind Haze Light IPA dollar sales are down -45.3%, while volume is down -49.5%.
Trends have improved for IPA and Double in the last four weeks, with the double hazy IPA offering back in the green:
- Mind Haze IPA dollar sales -12.6%, volume -17.8%;
- Mind Haze Double IPA dollars +14.9%, volume +15.5%.
Mind Haze Light IPA’s trends have accelerated, with dollar sales down -57% YoY in the 4-week period, and volume down -60%.
Firestone Walker plans to reverse trends with a refreshed look for the Mind Haze family, including greater emphasis on the beers’ ABV. The company is also launching two new variants in 2024 — Brain Melter hazy imperial IPA (8.5% ABV) and Cosmic Crusher juicy imperial IPA (9.5% ABV) — as well as a new variety pack for the brand.
For the off-premise, Firestone plans to stabilize distribution of Mind Haze, focusing on its home market. The company is aiming to get back up to 50% distribution in Southern California and achieve Northern Caliornia placements wherever Sierra Nevada’s Hazy Little Thing is sold.
For the on-premise, Amaral emphasized the need to not “get lost in the shuffle” of all the other hazy IPAs in the market. The company plans to target on-premise accounts with two or fewer hazy IPAs so that Mind Haze doesn’t “get caught in the wash of all the hazy IPAs that are out there in the world.”
Firestone Walker also plans to use the brand to target the “next generation of IPA consumers” with a priority on higher-end accounts that attract a younger legal-drinking-age demographic. Mind Haze tap handles will also be updated.
The Firestone Brand
The Firestone brand – or “F Brand” – is “probably the most important pillar of our portfolio strategy,” Hinz said.
Firestone Walker plans to lean into its “artisanal roots” with the brand and “zig when everyone else is zagging and lean into the craft enthusiast,” Hinz said.
Firestone plans to focus on a premium and simplified mix pack strategy, with a variety 12-pack in can and bottle options. The Beer for Glory pack will mark the return of “fan favorite” Luponic Distortion IPA, which will be packed alongside Union Jack IPA, Hypnosis IPA and a new offering, Firestone IPA.
The latter, a 6.5% ABV West Coast IPA, is “inspired by the beers of the past and brewed for the craft enthusiast of now,” acting as a “modern homage to the iconic West Coast style,” Barnett said.
Firestone also plans to focus on building a strong seasonal portfolio within the Firestone brand with three core seasonal offerings: Firestone XPA (January-June); Oktoberfest (July-September); and Mocha Dolce (October-December).
“When you have an amazing lifestyle brand, like 805, the flavor forward, nature of Cali Squeeze, the crazy world of Mind Haze, and then the rooted heart and soul of the F Brand, I really feel and genuinely believe that we’re poised for some of the best success that we ever had,” Hinz said.