Anheuser-Busch, Heineken Tease Super Bowl Ad Plans
Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) may have ceded advertising exclusivity rights to Super Bowl LVII, but the world’s largest beer manufacturer will continue to have an outsized presence during breaks in the game.
A-B will have four Super Bowl ads with three minutes of national advertising time and 30 seconds of regional ad time. Each spot will also receive 360 marketing support across the full year, including digital and social plans, local out-of-home, e-commerce integrations and in-store displays.
“As we’ve been doing for decades, A-B will once again lead the alcohol category with total minutes of in-game creative delivered by our iconic and high growth brands,” A-B CMO Benoit Garbe said in a press release. “Beyond broadcast, we are further investing in omni channel, digital-first and with local assets that will deliver for fans not only at [the] Super Bowl, but throughout the entire football season and every moment in between.”
Featured brands will include Bud Light, Michelob Ultra, Budweiser and Busch Light. Expect celebrities, athletes and the Busch Guy in those spots. Kevin Bacon will also be featured in the Budweiser ad, while Michelob Ultra will get Serena Williams, Succession (and Super Troopers) star Brian Cox, Canelo Alvarez, Tony Romo and Alex Morgan for some Caddyshack-inspired shenanigans.
The lack of exclusivity has opened the door for other bev-alc companies. Heineken USA is partnering with Marvel Studios on a 30-second spot for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania featuring star Paul Rudd and non-alcoholic beer Heineken 0.0 that will play during the first half of the game.
Diageo and Remy Cointreau are each also paying up for Super Bowl ads to feature Crown Royal whisky and Remy Martin cognac, respectively.
Earlier this week, Molson Coors told distributors it would highlight Coors Light and Miller Lite for its national ad play, while Coors Banquet, Coors Light, Miller Lite, Blue Moon Belgian White and Vizzy Hard Seltzer would be featured at retailers.
KYLA Hard Kombucha Acquired by Patco Brands
Hood River, Oregon-based hard kombucha maker KYLA has been acquired by Rancho La Gloria ready-to-drink (RTD) margarita maker Patco Brands in a deal “intended to drive distribution and growth,” the company said.
“With the continued success of their Sunbreak Series and an enhanced lineup of innovative flavors we believe KYLA will continue to drive large double-digit growth moving into 2023,” Patco Brands COO Russell Stanley said in a press release. “Lavender Lemonade and the Sunbreak Series is a winning proposition that we are excited to develop and scale.
“Better-for-you is here to stay and we are pleased to enhance our portfolio offering to cater to this growing audience and occasion,” he continued.
KYLA president Morgan Robbat added that she is confident Patco’s “national sales network and disruptive brand building approach will accelerate growth and presence in the market.”
“We are really excited to join the strong team at Patco Brands,” she said. “Their innovative approach and success in the RTD space is a great fit.”
Full Sail Brewing launched KYLA in 2018. The brand split from Full Sail a few years ago, Robbat told Brewbound. KYLA continues to co-pack the product at its Hood River production facility. KYLA is expected to continue on with its existing distribution partners.
KYLA’s signature Lavender Lemonade flavor “became the fastest selling 16 oz. in the hard kombucha category” last year, the company said.
Family-owned Patco Brands sold 1.4 million cases of Rancho La Gloria in 2022, making it the No. 1 wine-based RTD brand in the world, the company said.
Allagash’s Look Back at 2022 Review: 1.5M Pounds of Maine Grain, $500K in Donations, 24 Trips to Belgium
Allagash Brewing brewed with more than 1.5 million pounds of locally grown grain in 2022, a +37.6% increase from 2021, the company shared in its year-in-review blog post.
“2022 was filled with progress on the front of brewing high-quality beer for the benefit of our employees, community, and environment,” Allagash wrote.
The Portland, Maine-based brewery’s recycling co-op program has grown to include 20 businesses who combine “hard-to-recycle materials.” In 2022, program participants recycled a combined 47 tons (94,000 pounds) of material that would otherwise have gone to a landfill, Allagash said.
Other items among “the accomplishments and milestones of the past year” that Allagash is “most proud of” include 185 new beers produced through the brewery’s pilot system, 15 episodes of the “From Maine, With Love” podcast, and $500,000 in charitable donations, which included $122,722.43 in donations from tasting room guests.
On display were metrics generated by many of Allagash’s people-first corporate policies, including 87 employees who used the company’s Volunteer Time Off to volunteer for 998 hours combined. Twenty-four employees celebrated their five-year Allagash-iversary with a trip to Belgium with founder Rob Tod and brewmaster Jason Perkins. Sixteen employees marked a decade with the brewery by taking a month-long sabbatical.
Allagash employees have voted the company a top Maine employer for nine years in a row. In 2022, Allagash claimed the No. 3 spot among companies in its size category.
The brewery also detailed the research and development process that created its new Hop Reach IPA: 17 trial brewing rounds and four IPA socials where employees tasted samples, which generated more than 500 ratings.
Listen to Perkins discuss Allagash’s recycling efforts on the Brewbound Podcast in April 2021.
Monster Introduces Monarchy Non-Alc CANarchy Division, Rebrands Dale’s, Wild Basin
Monster executives Rodney Sacks and Hilton Schlosberg revealed the creation of Monarchy Beverage Company – a non-alcoholic beverage focused division of the CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective – during an investor day presentation earlier this week.
Monarchy will focus on creating new and smaller brands, such as canned water brand (both still and sparkling) Tour Water, that will go through independent distributors, including beer distributors. Those products, if they reach a certain scale, will graduate to the Coca-Cola network.
Monarchy has the blessing of Coca-Cola, Schlosberg noted. (Read previous coverage on plans for flavored malt beverage brand The Beast Unleashed).
Sacks touched on three CANarchy brands: Cigar City’s Jai Alai, Oskar Blues’ Dale’s and Wild Basin hard seltzer.
For Jai Alai, the opportunity is in the IPA and sister brands Jai Low and Jai Alai Hazy, as well as a mixed pack featuring the three brands and Spanish Cedar Jai Alai.
Meanwhile, the Oskar Blues name appears to have taken a backseat to Dale’s, with the flagship pale ale’s packaging redesigned and built out into a family that includes a Double IPA and a light lager.
Finally, hard seltzer brand Wild Basin has been reformulated and its package redesigned. Wild Basic, which struggled last year, will be a focus area for CANarchy in 2023, Sacks said.
Fair State Launches Canna-Beverage Dedicated Fulfillment, Distribution Center
Minneapolis-based Fair State Brewing Cooperative has launched “Minnesota’s first” cannabis fulfillment, co-packing and distribution center, “exclusively for hemp-derived beverages.”
Chill State Collective – named after Fair State’s hemp-derived THC- and CBD-infused sparkling water line – will offer co-packing, storage, distribution and “endorsement” for “top-tier canna-beverage brands” in Minnesota, according to a press release.
In addition to Fair State’s own Chill State beverage, six beverage brands have signed a cooperative partnership with Chill State Collective: Happi, Plift, Bent Paddle, Find Wunder, Offfield and Cann.
“We are bringing experienced operators and strategic thinkers together in a new beverage segment, which is really unique,” Chill State Collective principal and program director Rob Shellman said in the release. “We have the best of the best and are dedicated to running this business in a mission-driven and responsible way for Minnesota. We’re aiming to encourage safe cannabis discovery through exceptional quality.”
In July, Minnesota lawmakers legalized edibles and beverages with up to 5 mg per serving of THC for consumers 21 and older – a move that was characterized by some as unexpected, and allegedly even caused confusion amongst legislators. The THC must be derived from hemp (cannabis with less than 0.3% THC by dry weight) rather than marijuana.
Fair State launched its first Chill State offering in October. Its second, Pineapple Express, launched this month. Both drinks are flavored with terpenes – “hyper-potent plant derived aroma compounds” – and are zero calories, with no added sugar or artificial sweeteners, according to the release.
Total Bev-Alc Servings in Market Declined -0.13% YoY in 2022, But Expected to Normalize in 2023
Total servings of beverage-alcohol entering the U.S. market declined -0.13% in 2022, from 127.20 to 127.37, falling below the index’s average annual growth of +1.2%, market research firm bw166 reported Monday.
Bw166 tracks bev-alc volume through tax-paid shipment and customs data. One serving is generally equivalent to 12 oz. of beer, 5 oz. of wine and 1.5 oz. of spirits.
In 2021, bev-alc servings increased +3.3%, “attributable to market disruption caused by the [COVID-19] pandemic and supply chain issues,” according to bw166.
Servings per legal-drinking-age (LDA) consumer declined -1.1%, from 103.7 servings, to 102.6. Over the past 20 years, the servings index per LDA has averaged at 102.7, “so the index has returned to the norm.”
Bw166 cited three main factors affecting the bev-alc market which contributed to the recent index abnormalities:
- Tariffs on European wine and spirits products, “which dropped imports of the impacted products”;
- Consumer shifts from the on-premise to the off-premise due to the pandemic, which “benefitted major brands in key retailers”;
- And “supply chain disruptions that altered normal ordering patterns.”
“Our view of the market is that overall trends were almost back to normal by the month of October 2021,” bw166 wrote in its report. “By this date, many of the tariff issues, channel shift issues, and supply chain disruptions had normalized.
“The meaning of this is that rolling 12-month comparisons should give a true comparison for 12 months ending September 2023,” the company continued. “Until then, there will continue to be noise in the data from these three major disruptions.”
Beer distribution declined -2.5%, to 204 million barrels, “driven by domestic declines” and the flattening out of hard seltzer growth, “offset by import growth.” Consumer spending on beer increased +6.5%, to $135 billion, driven by consumers returning to the on-premise.
Spirits entering distribution increased +7%, to 289 million 9L cases, driven by imports, ready-to-drink cocktails (RTDs), tequila and domestic whiskey, and offset slightly by declines in vodka and rum. Consumer spending increased +13%, to $101 billion, also driven by the return of the on-premise.
Wine distribution declined -3.8%, to 453 million 9L cases, “driven by declines in flavored wine beverages that were competing with hard seltzers and Vermouth.” Consumer spending increased +4.5%, to $84 billion.
Coca-Cola to Launch Simply Mixology Assortment
Coca-Cola will launch a Simply Mixology assortment on January 23, playing further in the alcohol-adjacent space, Beverage Industry reported.
The line will include three flavors – Strawberry Guava Mojito, Lime Margarita and Peach Sour – each packaged in 52 oz. bottles. They’ll be sold in grocery stores such as Shoprite and Meijer.
Molson Coors struck a licensing deal with Coca-Cola to produce the Simply Spiked Lemonade FMB brand in May, with additional flavors to follow. The Simply Spiked Lemonade variety pack was Molson Coors’ 12th best-selling off-premise brand in 2022, posting more than $59.1 million in sales at multi-outlet and convenience stores tracked by market research firm IRI. Simply Spiked Strawberry Lemonade and Simply Spiked Signature Lemonade generated more than $5.8 million and more than $5.1 million in sales, respectively, according to the firm.