Alcohol Rollouts Providing Category Firepower

Within the packaged alcohol beverage space, both macro- and micro-driven innovation strategies are often part of a supplier’s blueprint.

Molson Coors followed the research that younger adult drinkers had a desire for easy-drinking refreshers and responded with Happy Thursday, a first-of-its-kind line of spiked refreshers.

Rolling out next March, Happy Thursday has 4.4% ABV and is bubble-free. “The Molson Coors innovation strategy is all about focusing on fewer, bigger and bolder bets that push boundaries and put us on the forefront of upcoming trends,” says Jamie Wideman, vice president of innovation at Molson Coors.

“We’ve been seeing and hearing directly from the 21-26-year-old crowd that they don't want carbonation. So, we've taken everything that the newest legal drinking age consumers love—smooth, flavorful, bubble-free refreshers—and made them spiked, putting us at the forefront of a whole new category of alcohol beverages. With Happy Thursday, it doesn’t matter what day it is, the weekend starts with the first sip.”

The Molson Coors brand team also identified a frozen novelty icon —the creamsicle—as one possessing an alcohol upside and developmental pathway. The result: the debut in late August of limited-time Vizzy Orange Cream Pop hard seltzer, carried out as part of Molson Coors’ alliance with alcohol ice-cream maker Hardscoop.

Read ahead for six packaged alcohol beverage debuts—some making inroads to satisfy unmet consumer needs.

The limited-edition High Noon Game Day Pack hard seltzer (High Noon Spirits Co.) is made with real vodka and real juice, with flavors that include Pear and Cranberry—along with Black Cherry and Grapefruit. The High Noon Game Day Pack contains 4.5% ABV.

Rolling out in March 2024, Happy Thursday (Molson Coors Beverage Co.) represents a first-of-its-kind line of spiked refresher. Inspired by younger consumers’ desire for easy-drinking refreshers that contain no carbonation, Happy Thursday has 4.4% ABV and is bubble-free. Flavors include Strawberry, Pineapple Starfruit, Black Cherry and Mango Passionfruit.

Seagram’s Escapes (The Seagram Beverage Co.) has been busy innovating a limited-edition Pop & Watch variety pack featuring new seasonal flavors of Blackberry Pear, Apple Melon, Raspberry Lime and Cranberry Orange in 4-packs of 11.2-ounce bottles. The other debut is a Seagram’s Escapes Berry Mimosa, a modern, cocktail-inspired flavor in 4-packs of 11.2-ounce bottles.

Bambucha Kombucha LLC introduced a hard kombucha flavor in Raspberry Crush, along with a hard kombucha variety pack consisting of the new flavor plus Tropical Guava, Blueberry Vanilla and Hawaiian Hibiscus. Raspberry Crush offers crushed ripe organic raspberries paired with an infusion of lemongrass and splash of tart, cold-pressed lime juice. Hard kombucha is 6% ABV, 140 calories and has 5 grams of sugar.

Uptown Cocktails ready-to-drink cocktails contain all-natural ingredients and have no corn syrup added. Uptown Cocktails are gluten-free, Kosher-certified and available in premium packaging, in size formats of 1.5-liter, 750 milliliters and 355 milliliters. The cocktails contain 13.9% ABV.

A limited-time offer, Vizzy Orange Cream Pop hard seltzer is the result of Molson Coors alliance with alcohol ice-cream maker Hardscoop. Vizzy Orange Cream Pop hard seltzer delivers an orange cream pop flavor in a new way, the supplier said. Six-packs of the creamsicle-inspired drink are available for an SRP of $24.99.

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