Massachusetts-based hard seltzer brand Willie’s Superbrew was midway through a call with the supermarket chain Harris Teeter when the buyer interjected:
“I frickin’ love what you’re doing, I love your liquid,” he said, according to Willie’s founder Nico Enriquez. “We would love to partner with you.”
There was one stipulation: The company would have two months to secure distribution in Virginia and North Carolina if it wanted to launch in Harris Teeter’s stores.
“If we have someone of the caliber of Harris Teeter [wanting] us, it’s kind of a situation where you jump when they say jump,” Enriquez told Brewbound.
Having previously planned to expand into both states in 2022, the company “scrambled” to get state registrations, and formed distribution pacts with Reyes Beer Division for Virginia, and Tryon Distributing for North Carolina. In July, Willie’s variety 12-pack landed on Harris Teeter’s shelves.
While it was a sprint to the finish line, Enriquez said the grocery chain partnership aligns with Willie’s expansion strategy, which focuses on retailers pulling the brand into their stores. The company’s biggest partners in the category are Whole Foods, Wegmans, Total Wine, and Market Basket. Enriquez said Harris Teeter will likely become one of the top retailers following its early success in the chain’s stores.
Willie’s products are now sold in 11 states: Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and North Carolina. About 50% of the company’s sales come from Massachusetts and New York. Looking ahead, Enriquez said the goal is to expand distribution throughout the rest of the East Coast.
After rebranding from Farmer Willie’s to Willie’s Superbrew in 2018, the company shifted production from ginger beer to “superbrews”: a self-defined hybrid of hard cider and hard seltzer. The company has posted steady growth since rebranding, producing 50,000 case equivalents (about 3,629 barrels) in 2019 and 115,000 CEs (around 8,346 barrels) in 2020. Although Enriquez declined to share 2021 production numbers, he said the company is “up more than 5X over the last 4 years.”
Willie’s offerings are contract brewed at Downeast Cider House in East Boston. Enriquez said the company has discussed creating its own innovation production location but there are no concrete plans at this time.
One of Willie’s latest innovations is a cocktail-inspired variety pack, featuring Ginger & Lemon, Mint & Lime, Pineapple & Jalapeno, and Cranberry & Lime — inspired by (in order) a Moscow mule, mojito, spicy margarita, and Cape Codder. Each pack contains a pound of fruit, according to Enriquez.
“We want to give people the full flavor they’re looking for out of cocktails, but still have the base stats and lightness of a seltzer,” he said. “And if you try stuff like the pineapple jalapeno, there’s 13% pineapple juice and true jalapeno puree, so you get such a nice balance of complexity and flavor and a little bit of sweetness, a little bit of spice, that sets really well.”
Willie’s two variety packs — the cocktail-inspired pack and the original pack — are the top performing SKUs for the company, making up 50-60% of its sales. The original pack, featuring tropical-inspired flavors with Mango & Passionfruit, Pineapple & Lime, Pomegranate & Açai, and Blueberry & Lemon, is often referred to in the company as the “gold pack,” having won 121 medals in three years, according to Enriquez.
Willie’s unique flavors outside of the typical black cherry, lemon lime and grapefruit hard seltzer go-tos are in part what he said helps the company stand out in the increasingly crowded segment. In 2018, it released a seasonal pear cinnamon and in May released a juicy, hazy, hop flavor.
“It’s risky to do something that’s different than everyone else, because it’s kind of like, ‘Here’s the data, here’s the customer-use occasion that’s proven by this massive data set.’ But it’s like, if you do that, you end up getting lost in the whole shuffle,” he said. “The idea is, let’s make it not just like, ‘This is a numbers game and we’re doing the same things as everyone else.’ But really, let’s bring something unique to the category and make it something that [makes] the category more interesting because we’re there.”
As for the future of the hard seltzer segment, Enriquez said the segment is evolving to be more flavor focused and diverse, as smaller brands gain traction.
As the on-premise channel returns, Willie’s has had some success getting into restaurants, with Buffalo Wild Wings adding the company’s Mango offering to its Massachusetts draft mandate. About 10% of Willie’s sales are from on-premise establishments, driven by success in Philadelphia, New York, and South Boston.
“It’s got great color, it’s got great flavor, it has basically everything you want out of a draft seltzer,” he said. “That’s our focus on draft — let’s do one flavor, let’s do it well, and let’s build it.”
In addition to distribution and on-premise growth, Willie’s is hoping to integrate community outreach even further into the brand, primarily through its beach clean ups, which launched in 2019 following the passing of company namesake Willie Fenichel.
“We were trying to figure out how do we keep going as a brand and represent who he was and where we came from in a way that has soul. And it’s not just like you’re doing a package form or something like that, and just moving on,” Enriquez said.
Last year, Willie’s organized cleaning every beach on Cape Cod, and signed up 6,000 volunteers to clear beaches in Long Island and the Jersey Shore. This September, it is organizing beach clean ups across every beach in Massachusetts.
“The dream is one day, we do that across the whole East Coast,” Enriquez said. “Going down the coast and linking that with our expansion would be really impactful as a story and as a soul and building a movement as a brand. But also just kind of like a fun challenge.”