Athletic Brewing Company’s Upside Dawn Golden will be served on all domestic JetBlue flights starting in May, the company shared today.
The partnership marks the first time that a major U.S. airline has served non-alcoholic craft beer at 35,000 feet. JetBlue operates around 775 domestic departures per day and 270,000 annually. The company serves around 30 million U.S. customers each year.
“In our continued effort to provide customers with an onboard experience customized to their needs and preferences, JetBlue is proud to be the first major U.S. airline to serve non-alcoholic beer,” Mariya Stoyanova, JetBlue director of product development, said in a press release. “We’re thrilled to partner with industry leader Athletic Brewing to offer our customers the refreshing, balanced taste of a classic craft Golden without the alcohol.”
Athletic Brewing co-founder and CEO Bill Shufelt called the partnership “a huge milestone for Athletic and a key partnership” for the company in the travel industry, per a press release.
“As someone who does 75 flights-plus a year, I try to order non-alcoholic beer all the time on planes,” Shufelt told Brewbound. “All I want is a beer while I sit there and do work and emails and stuff, and it would just be so nice to have and it’s frustrating that it hasn’t been there. I was really glad to see JetBlue was receptive.”
Upside Dawn will be listed in a “non-alcoholic beer” section of JetBlue’s menu for $9 a can, which is in line with alcoholic beers and hard seltzers on the menu: Bud Light, Samuel Adams Wicked Hazy IPA, Stella Artois and Truly Hard Seltzer Wild Berry.
Shufelt sees the addition of Athletic’s Upside Dawn as “an awareness play” for the brand, as well as an opportunity for the company to unlock another occasion for the beer category while reaching “every cohort of customers.”
“From business travelers who probably want to keep a clear head, to people who tend to try to eat healthy on the road as much as they can, to families, like people who are wrangling kids and stuff,” Shufelt said. “Having a beer on a plane is a pretty nice option. But just vacation, relaxing but not getting over your skis. And then for the airline themselves too, I’m sure it’s appreciated that people drinking it are not getting super rowdy.”
The partnership with JetBlue is another example of Athletic’s intentional partner strategy, Shufelt said. He added that the company has “found“some really good advocates in travel,” with companies such as Hyatt’s lifestyle division and the Four Seasons.
“The goal is to just keep taking beer where beer’s never gone before,” he said.
Athletic ranked as the 13th largest craft brewery by volume in 2022, as defined by the Brewers Association. Looking ahead, Shufelt said he’s “really geared up for the summer” following spring and summer resets.
“We had tens of thousands of placements come online in the spring,” he said, which amounts to nearly double the points of distribution compared to a year ago. “We’re really excited to be more widely available going into the warmer weather this year.”
Gaining some of that new distribution is Athletic’s hop-infused sparkling water brand, DayPack, which is now available nationally via Whole Foods and Total Wine.
Single-flavor 6-packs (Mango, Lemon Lime and Black Cherry) are available nationwide, while an additional flavor, Blood Orange, is available in the Pacific Northwest.
A variety 12-pack will be available (Lemon Lime, Blood Orange and Mango) in the northeast to start and then in wider distribution later this summer.
Athletic’s continued rise comes as the company has cracked Circana’s list of the top 25 beer category vendors in off-premise grocery and convenience stores. Dollar sales of Athletic’s offerings are up +141.2% while volume is up +135.2% through March 26 in off-premise retailers tracked by Circana.
The overall non-alcoholic beer segment increased off-premise dollar sales +30.8%, to $72.7 million, and claimed 0.79 share of the beer category through the first three months of 2023, the firm reported.
Athletic will enter the importing selling season as the official non-alcoholic beer sponsor of country music star Walker Hayes’ Duck Buck Tour. The company’s beer will be served on Hayes’ bus and in the green room at his concerts, and the brand will be featured in promotional materials and onstage during several concert stops.
Hayes will also post about the brand on his social media handles.
“Walker has been an incredible supporter of Athletic and we’re honored that he’s bringing our brews on tour,” Athletic CMO Andrew Katz said in a press release. “He shares our passion for great-tasting non-alcoholic beer, and we’re excited to introduce Athletic to his millions of fans across the country.”
“I always keep Athletic Brewing’s non-alcoholic beer in my fridge,” Hayes added. “They are a great option for anyone who likes to sip on a brew while watching a game, spending the day on the lake, or after playing a show. I can’t wait to have their brews on tour with me.”