For nearly a decade, Michael Taylor and Felipe Szpigel worked together at Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B), building and guiding the world’s largest beer manufacturer’s craft beer division. Now, the two have joined forces again, with Taylor joining Szpigel’s Miami-based, ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktail company Five Drinks as president and COO.
“We worked really well together in terms of bringing the vision [of A-B] to reality, and he was really my right and left arm back then.” Szpigel told Brewbound “And as we transition from a start-up to a more structured company, and we manage better ourselves and growth, for me, it was a natural step, going after him again, and offering to work side by side one more time.”
Taylor joined Five Drinks this summer, transitioning from CEO of Green Flash Brewing Co. to an advisory role with the San Diego-based craft brewery, until his position is filled. Before Green Flash, he spent more than 14 years at A-B in various executive roles, including VP of M&A and real estate, and VP of non-alcohol brands.
While at A-B, Taylor not only worked with fellow executive Szpigel, but most of the Five Drinks’ founders: Jeremy and Chris Cox, co-founders of Bend, Oregon-based 10 Barrel Brewing, and Roberto Schuback, former finance director of ZX Ventures, A-B’s growth and innovation division, which holds a minority stake in Five Drinks.
“Being a fan of the product since the early days, I knew what [Szpigel’s] goal was, I knew the overall strategy that he was thinking about, and really connected with that,” Taylor told Brewbound. “[RTDs are] the fastest growing segment in the alcohol beverage space right now. And for us, thinking about how we can become a market leader with the great team behind us and Felipe’s leadership, was hard for me to pass up.”
RTDs have been one of the few segments to record exponential growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. The segment is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 30.6% between 2021 and 2025, according to the market research firm IWSR, which includes hard seltzers in its definition of RTDs.
Five Drinks hopes to stand out in the growing space as “bar-quality craft cocktails in a can,” containing real spirits, including vodka, rum and gin. Spirits-based RTDs like Five Drink’s offerings make up about 31% of the RTD segment, according to IWSR.
“People tend to lump RTDs together, but I think there’s truly two different camps: You got your soda-based or seltzer-based RTDs and you’ve got your true cocktails,” Taylor said. “And we’re seeing this transition, this evolution of consumers really demanding those cocktails as opposed to just the seltzer and hard sodas.
“And making sure that the retailers and distributor universe understands the difference and doesn’t lump us just in a total RTD universe is I think going to be an important distinction.”
“The vision that we had back then when we created Five still holds, which is the majority of the ready-to-drink category today, which is over $10 billion in revenue is still malt-based or for products that are average quality.” Szpigel added. “And I think the difference between back then and now is that they’re already projections for the cocktail in the spirits-based category to be above $1 billion in revenue over the next couple of years.”
Among other responsibilities in his new role, Taylor will help Five Drinks execute its expansion plan, which includes widening the company’s footprint in existing markets such as Calfironia and Illinois.
“We’ve got a number of chain partners that we’re continuing to develop as a small company and develop our brands and our partnership together,” he said. “So from grocery to packaged liquor to convenience, all channels are part of our overall ecosystem that we’re developing and we’re continuing to work on.”
Packaged liquor is the biggest channel for Five Drinks, according to Szpigel. The company focuses heavily on off-premise channels, as it doesn’t attempt to compete with full-service bar setups at many on-premise establishments. Instead, the company looks to “limited service areas” such as venues and hotels, where consumers are more likely to grab a canned cocktail.
Five Drinks is also looking to expand into new markets, with plans to enter five to seven new states in 2022. While Taylor declined to share which states are in play, he said they are looking at states adjacent to Five Drinks existing territories, and that Breakthru Beverage Group, one of its largest wholesalers, will be “a key piece to that expansion.”
Additionally, the company is exploring further innovation in product flavors and packaging. Taylor teased several new cocktail offerings, including a lime pineapple daiquiri and a Tom Collins cocktail with grapefruit gin, as well as a holiday-flavor inspired variety 8-pack. The company has also partnered with the New York City-based restaurant Dante to create a spicy fresca RTD, based on the restaurant’s popular cocktail by the same name.
For Five Drinks’ most popular offerings — mojito, margarita, and moscow mule — the company is exploring a limited run of single-serve, 12 oz. cans. All other cocktails will remain in Five Drinks’ traditional 200 mL cans, which Szpigel said are equivalent to a 12 oz. cocktail when poured over ice.