An up-and-coming hard seltzer brand focused on Asian fruit flavors has won the 2020 edition of Brewbound’s Pitch Slam Competition, presented by Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Brewers Collective craft division.
Lunar Hard Seltzer, a New York-based hard seltzer brand, won the 12th edition of the Pitch Slam competition, which invites entrepreneurs in the alcoholic beverage industry to compete before a panel of industry experts.
In a five-minute pitch, Lunar co-founder Kevin Wong described the brand as “the first Asian American craft hard seltzer made from real, authentic ingredients sourced directly from the motherland.”
Wong and co-founder Sean Ro will receive a prize package worth $10,000 in advertising on Brewbound.com, access to the Brewers Collective team of craft brewery founders for networking and advice, and lab testing and quality assurance support through Elevate QA, a new initiative launched by the Brewers Collective that provides free lab access and assistance to craft brewers.
“To us, this brand and what we’re about is personal,” Wong said after learning Lunar had won the competition. “This is what happens when something is so personal and meaningful to us — everything comes a little more naturally.”
In 2019, Wong and Ro developed the idea for Lunar after dining at a Korean fried chicken restaurant in New York and being uninspired by the restaurant’s drink menu.
“Why were there only mass market like beers on the menu instead of a beverage pairing as authentic as the food?” Wong asked during his pitch. “Why wasn’t there a drink that proudly celebrated the flavors that we grew up with?”
The founders realized that, although Asian-inspired dining had been gaining popularity for decades, drinks had yet to catch up.
“It’s clear that America’s tastes are easternizing, and yet in the red hot seltzer category, there was a distinct lack of representation and focus on a rapidly growing community,” Wong said.
Lunar was in part inspired by what Wong called “lunchbox moments” — memories from school days in which Wong was sometimes hesitant to open his lunch at school, knowing the foods inside would look and smell different from those of his classmates. Today, Lunar embraces Asian fruit flavors, and is available in yuzu, lychee and winter melon.
“With Lunar, we’re creating what we call a reverse lunchbox moment where people can be proud to be seen drinking our seltzer,” Wong said.
Final round judge Thomas Bleigh, innovation brewmaster and co-founder of the Brewers Collective’s pH experiment, praised Lunar’s flavors.
“They have a very distinct flavor profile, and they’re citrusy, but they’re very woody,” he said. “That herbaceousness, when done properly, is really, really beautiful and you’ve done that really well.
“I really enjoyed the overall flavor — I thought it was super clean,” he continued.
Beny Ashburn, co-founder and CEO of Crowns & Hops Brewing, which won the 2019 Brewbound Pitch Slam, admired Lunar’s packaging and design.
“Your branding and marketing is really beautiful,” she said. “It’s very clean, it’s very elegant, it doesn’t complicate the story, the messaging or the flavors that you’re expecting to taste when you actually sip the product.”
Joining Bleigh and Ashburn on the judging panel were Brewers Collective senior director of innovation Joy Young and Wine Warehouse director of sales Sinead Carey.
Lunar best five other finalists, after advancing from the semi-final round of the competition. The finalists included:
- Cajun Fire Brewing Company, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Dokkaebier, San Francisco, California
- Norwalk Brew House, Norwalk, California
- Pow Brewing Company, Torrance, California
- Study Break Hard Seltzer, Los Angeles, California
Lunar Hard Seltzer (4.9% ABV, 120 calories) is currently available in Asian-centric restaurants and markets in New York. Ro and Wong plan to expand sales to California in 2021. The company recently launched a fundraising round.
Past winners of Brewbound’s Pitch Slam competition include: Crowns and Hops, Wilie’s Superbrew, Novo Brazil Brewing, Armada Brewing, Border X Brewing, Hopewell Brewing, Wynwood Brewing Company, Braxton Brewing Company, CODA Brewing, Appalachian Mountain Brewery, and 5 Stones Brewing.