One Philadelphia-based hard seltzer maker is hoping consumers will increasingly turn to local and regional brands — as they did with craft beer — in the $4.1 billion segment.
“As an independent beverage company, Two Robbers is not tied to the same playbook as most national seltzer brands,” co-founder and co-CEO Vivek Nayar said in a press release. “Everything about our approach is unique, from our flavors and formula to our packaging and ability to genuinely connect with the communities we engage with. We believe there will always be a huge amount of people who will prefer that authenticity to mass-produced products.”
Two Robbers Hard Seltzer has raised $6 million in a Series A funding round led by Austin, Texas-based Brand Foundry Ventures that included individual investors, including Nelson Peltz. The company has plans to add six new markets to its footprint: Maryland, Virginia, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Washington, D.C.
Vivek Nayar and his twin brother Vikram Nayar launched the brand in 2019. It has since expanded to 3,000 points of distribution across Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Texas. Two Robbers is aligned with the Sheehan Family Companies network in most markets.
The raise was Two Robbers’ first institutional funding round. With the investment, the company will be able to add to its 21-person team, invest in its new markets and expand its product line. Tw0 Robbers’ seltzer is brewed with a cane sugar base, rather than malt, making it gluten free.
In Philadelphia, Two Robbers’ home market, the brand’s dollar sales have increased 143.2% for the 13 weeks ending April 4, according to data from market research firm IRI shared by Two Robbers. Two Robbers is the leading independent hard seltzer brand in Philadelphia and the sixth-best seller, not far behind the fourth- and fifth-best sellers, Constellation Brands’ Corona Hard Seltzer and Molson Coors’ Vizzy Hard Seltzer.
“We’re right in line with Corona and Vizzy,” Vivek Nayar told Brewbound. “We’re sort of trading the four, five and six spots.”
The top three hard seltzers in Philadelphia — and nationwide — are Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw, Boston Beer Company’s Truly Hard Seltzer and Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud Light Seltzer.
Two Robbers’ distribution in Philadelphia has reached 76.4% of all commodity volume (ACV), indicating that the brand still has more runway ahead of it than its competitors from global brewers, all of whom have ACV distribution above 85%.
“We obviously have to fight for distribution a lot more than an A-B or MillerCoors product,” Vikram Nayar said. “But we’re hyper-focused on really is just making sure the velocity is there, because increasingly so, that’s what retailers are going to care about.”
Unlike many other hard seltzer brands, Two Robbers focused on bar and restaurant sales before the COVID-19 pandemic restricted the on-premise channel. Placement in buzzed-about Philadelphia bars helped the brand gain traction.
“When we launched the brand, the whole idea from the jump in terms of our launch strategy was going to be to try and get the product into places where we knew a lot of the buyers wanted to have a hard seltzer option, but they didn’t want to put XYZ macro seltzer on the menu next to a bunch of craft beers and cocktails and natural wine and whatnot,” Vikram Nayar said. “And so, Two Robbers just kind of fit that niche perfectly — it was us going door-to-door selling it, and so there was that personal aspect, which I think makes a big difference for on-premise.”
Pre-pandemic, as much as 40% of Two Robbers’ volume flowed through the on-premise, Vivek Nayar said.
The Nayars had planned on expanding Two Robbers to New York City with the same bar-led strategy, but the pandemic detailed that part of the brand’s March 2020 launch, which had to be rethought. Fortunately, Two Robbers launched its first variety pack in March 2020, a 12-pack with four cans each (5.2% ABV, 110 calories) of Orange Mango, Pineapple Ginger, and Peach Berry. A second variety pack, dubbed Chapter 2 and containing four cans each of Black Cherry Lemon, Raspberry Lime and Grapefruit Kiwi, rolled out in March 2021.
“The grocery side of the business just started taking off, and we started getting into Whole Foods, Wegmans, Trader Joe’s,” Vivek Nayar said.
In New York City, Two Robbers is the No. 10 hard seltzer and the second best-selling independent brand, behind Montauk Hard Seltzer. For the 13 weeks ending April 4, Two Robbers’ New York City off-premise dollar sales have increased 20,101% over the same period last year, which included its ill-timed New York launch. In that market, the brand has 18.4% ACV distribution, giving it plenty of room to grow; its dollar sales per point of distribution are $2,109, the fifth-highest of all hard seltzers in New York City.
The pandemic may have derailed Two Robbers’ on-premise game, but hard seltzer’s meteoric rise in 2020 has the brand ready to tackle bars and restaurants in 2021.
“The general awareness of hard seltzer in that time has gone up so significantly that I can’t see it not being part of on-premise,” Vikram Nayar said.