Selected Findings

• In fiscal 2020, Diageo recorded $1,284 million (£966 million) in net sales for its ready-to-drink category, which represented 7% of the company’s total net sales.
• In May 2019, Bacardi partnered with Tesco Group to launch ready-to-drink brand Breezer in the United Kingdom.
• From 2019 to 2020, the sales volume of Bacardi’s ready-to-serve cocktail products increased by 11% to 88,000 cases.

Research Strategy

Pernod Ricard

• According to the international spirits magazine 'The Spirits Business,' Imperial Blue (Indian whisky) was the biggest-selling brand of Pernod Ricard in 2019 with 26.3 million nine-liter cases sold. The other top-selling brands were Royal Stag (22 million nine-liter cases sold), Absolut (11.2 million nine-liter cases sold), Jameson (8.1 million nine-liter cases sold), and Ballantine's (7.7 million nine-liter cases sold).
• Even though Pernod Ricard has made several acquisitions over the past 24 months, most have been in the gin, whisky, and bourbon categories. None have been in the convenient alcohol space.
• In July 2020, Pernod Ricard launched the Kahlua Nitro Cold Brew RTD, an 80-calorie-per-can cocktail, in the US. In May 2020, Pernod Ricard launched new Absolut Vodka Soda RTDs in three new flavor combinations in the US: grapefruit and rosemary, lime and cucumber, and raspberry and lemongrass. The company also launched Absolut cocktail RTDs in the flavors Grapefruit Paloma, Mango Mule, and Berry Vodkarita.
• In February 2020, Pernod Ricard launched a sparkling malt RTD beverage called Malibu Splash in the US. The drink was launched in four flavors: lime, strawberry, pineapple, and passion fruit.
• In September 2018, Pernod Ricard launched RTD Kahlua espresso martinis in 200 ml cans. In May 2018, Pernod Ricard launched two different flavors of Malibu coconut rum for the market in the United Kingdom: passion fruit and pina colada.

Beam Suntory

• According to the international spirits magazine 'The Spirits Business,' Jim Beam was the biggest-selling brand of Beam Suntory in 2019 with 10.4 million nine-liter cases sold. The other top-selling brands were De Kuyper (3.5 million nine-liter cases sold), Pinnacle (2.5 million nine-liter cases sold), Maker's Mark (2.4 million nine-liter cases sold), and Sauza (2.2 million nine-liter cases sold).
• On September 2, 2020, Beam Suntory acquired the premium RTD cocktail brand called 'On The Rocks' for an undisclosed amount.
• In August 2019, Beam Suntory launched a shochu-based RTD range called Koyomi Highball for the Australian market. The drink was launched in three flavor combinations: yuzu and lime, mandarin and grapefruit, and blood orange and bitters.
• Since the RTD segment of Beam Suntory is present only in select markets (like Japan, Australia, Germany, the US, and New Zealand), none of the RTD brands under Beam Suntory has found mention in the top-150 list of the biggest selling alcohol brands of 2019 published by 'The Spirits Business.' However, Beam Suntory has plans to launch a wide range of low-alcohol and low-sugar RTDs starting from 2021.

Research Strategy

AB InBev

Five Biggest Portfolio Brands

• AB InBev identifies Budweiser, Stella Artois, and Corona as its global brands, and Castle, Beck's, Leffe, Hoegaarden, and Michelob Ultra as its international brands. The rest of AB InBev's more than 500 brands are local brands.
• AB InBev does not report the revenue or sales volume of each of its brands, but given the way it categorizes its brands, its biggest brands appear to be Budweiser, Stella Artois, Corona, Castle, Beck's, Leffe, Hoegaarden, and Michelob Ultra. It is therefore likely that its five biggest brands are Budweiser, Stella Artois, Corona, Castle, and Beck's.

Major Investments, Acquisitions, and Ventures in the Convenient Alcohol Space

• In February 2019, AB InBev announced that it will acquire Cutwater Spirits, a San Diego-based company that manufactures canned cocktails and spirits. At the time, Cutwater Spirits had 7 premium mixers, 14 canned spirits-based cocktails, and 16 spirits encompassing gin, rum, vodka, and whiskey.
• In July 2019, news surfaced that AB InBev had bought the remaining stake in Babe Wine, a company that sells canned wine. At the time, Babe Wine had three flavors, namely, Red, Pinot Grigio, and Rosé.
• In November 2019, there was news that AB InBev will be investing USD 100 million in the booming canned hard seltzer category.

Major Convenient Alcohol Brand Launches

• In May 2020, AB InBev launched Social Club Seltzer, a hard seltzer that comes in three flavors, namely, Citrus Gimlet, Old Fashioned, and Sidecar. Social Club Seltzer is sold in packs of six 12-ouince cans or packs of twelve 12-ounce cans.
• That same month, news surfaced that Mike's Hard Seltzer will launch nationwide in the United Kingdom in May. Mike's Hard Seltzer is a canned hard seltzer brand supported by AB InBev's investment arm ZX Ventures.
• In January 2020, AB InBev launched Bud Light Seltzer, a canned hard seltzer brand that is available in four fruit flavors, namely, Black Cherry, Lemon Lime, Mango, and Strawberry. Bud Light Seltzer comes in single 25-ounce cans or packs of twelve 25-ounce cans.
• In August 2020, AB InBev launched three new Bud Light Seltzer flavors, namely, Cranberry, Grapefruit, and Pineapple.
• In September 2020, AB InBev launched Bud Light Platinum Seltzer, its high-alcohol hard seltzer brand, which contains 8% ABV. Bud Light Platinum Seltzer is available in three flavors, namely, Blood Orange, Citrus, and Wild Berry. Blood Orange and Citrus come in 12-ounce slim cans, while Wild Berry comes in 12-ounce, 16-ounce, and 25-ounce cans.

Extent of Involvement in the Convenient Alcohol Space

• AB InBev has not shared the revenue or sales volume of its convenient alcohol business, but in its recent press release, it reported that its share of the market beyond beer had increased by 90 bps in the second quarter of 2020. The increase is largely the result of the company's launch of the Bud Light Seltzer brand. AB InBev claims the brand is the biggest innovation in the 'beyond beer' category by volume.
• AB InBev started its Beyond Beer Brands category in November 2019 only. At the time, AB InBev's share of the category was only 10%. Now, its share of the category is almost 20%.

Molson Coors

Five Biggest Portfolio Brands

• Molson Coors does not report the revenue or sales volume of each of its brands, but given the way it categorizes its brands, its biggest brands appear to be Blue Moon, Coors Banquet, Coors Light, Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Lite, Belgian Moon, Coors Original, and Staropramen.
• These brands are Molson Coors's global priority brands. Below are Molson Coors's global priority brands by region or operating segment.
•  United States: Blue Moon, Coors Banquet, Coors Light, Miller Genuine Draft, and Miller Lite
•  Canada: Belgian Moon, Coors Original, Coors Light, Miller Genuine Draft, and Miller Lite
•  Europe: Blue Moon, Coors Light, Miller Genuine Draft, and Staropramen
•  International: Blue Moon, Coors Light, Miller Genuine Draft, and Miller Lite
• Given that the U.S. accounts for around 68% of the company's net sales, it is likely that Molson Coors's five biggest brands are Blue Moon, Coors Banquet, Coors Light, Miller Genuine Draft, and Miller Lite.
• The rest of Molson Coors's brands are national champion and other regional brands, craft and import brands, beer cider brands, licensed premium import brands, and flavored malt beverages. Molson Coors has 107 brands in total.

Major Investments, Acquisitions, and Ventures in the Convenient Alcohol Space

• In November 2019, there was a report that Molson Coors will be investing "several hundred million dollars" in its production facility in Golden, Colorado to allow for the production of new products.
• In July 2020, news surfaced that Molson Coors was investing millions of dollars in its Fort Worth brewery to increase its hard seltzer capacity by over 400%.

Major Convenient Alcohol Brand Launches

• In February 2020, Molson Coors also announced that it will launch Vizzy in March. Vizzy is a canned hard seltzer that is made with Vitamin C-rich acerola cherry.
• That same month, Molson Coors announced that it will launch its canned hard seltzer brand Coors Seltzer in July. Available in four flavors, namely, Black Cherry, Grapefruit, Lemon Lime, and Mango, Coors Seltzer come in packs of twelve 12-ounce slim cans and single 16-ounce or 24-ounce slim cans.
• In April 2020, news surfaced that Molson Coors launched its canned wine spritzer brand Movo. Movo, which comes in 8.4-ounce cans, has three flavors, namely, Blood Orange Sangria, Peach White Blend, and Raspberry Rosé.
• In July 2020, Molson Coors launched its Bodega Bay Hard Seltzer brand across the United Kingdom. Sold in 250 ml cans, Bodega Bay comes in two flavors, namely, Apple, Ginger & Acai Berry and Elderflower, Lemon & Mint.

Extent of Involvement in the Convenient Alcohol Space

• Molson Coors has not shared the revenue or sales volume of its convenient alcohol business, but in its Q2 2020 earnings call, it reported the growth of its hard seltzer business. Its hard seltzer brand Vizzy, which was just launched nationally in April, already ranks third in several markets.
• Molson Coors's recent rebranding indicates the company's serious involvement in the convenient alcohol space. In November 2019, news surfaced that Molson Coors had rebranded itself as Molson Coors Beverage Company to reflect its strategy of expanding beyond beer.

Research Strategy

Carlsberg Group

• In the last two years, Carlsberg Group has made several acquisitions, but none had to do with convenient alcohol. In September 2019, Carlsberg completed its acquisition of Cambrew, one of the biggest beer brewers in Cambodia.
• According to the company's 2019 annual report, its biggest overall portfolio brands (across all products sold based on sales) are 1664 Blanc, Tuborg, Carlsberg, Feldschlösschen, Beerlao, and Grimbergen.
• Carlsberg's ready-to-drink alcoholic brands are Eve Litchi, Eve Strawberry Mojito, Sinebrychoff Classic Long Drink Cranberry, and Sinebrychoff Classic Long Drink Grapefruit. The company only publishes the sales volume of its biggest brands, so we could not establish how much the company is involved in these RTD brands.

Boston Beer Company

• According to the Boston Beer Company, its biggest overall brands are Truly Hard Seltzer, Samuel Adams, Twisted Tea, Angry Orchard, and Dogfish Head.
• Boston Beer Company has not made any acquisitions, investments, or ventures into the convenient alcohol space. However, the company has completed other acquisitions including acquiring Dogfish Head Brewery on May 8, 2019.

Research Strategy

Findings and Research Strategy

• The information on the biggest brands owned by each of the companies, based on sales or a comparable metric, was not readily available.
• Therefore, for Constellation Brands, we chose the five brands that were mentioned as the major sales drivers in the latest annual report. Those brands are Corona, Modelo, Kim Crawford, Melomi, and The Prisoner.
• Since E&J Gallo is a private company, the information on best-selling brands was even more scarce. We looked through multiple articles, analyses, and reports. We decided to choose the two top-selling wine brands - Barefoot and Carlo Rossi, the top selling premium brand - Dark Horse, the most popular prosecco brand in the US - La Marca, and the company's frequently mentioned flagship brand - Family Vineyards.
• While the above strategy doesn't use a consistent metric, the lack of quantitative information on the performance on each brand in the company materials and industry media made it impossible to rank Gallo's brands based on one metric.
• In the last 24 months, E&J Gallo launched High Noon Seltzer, a spirit-based seltzer, and Barefoot Seltzer, which is based on wine. It also revived its wine cooler brand, Bartles and James.
• In the same period, Constellation Brands launched Corona Refresca, a premium alcohol-infused refresher, and Corona Hard Seltzer. Both products are based on its flagship Corona beer.
• The companies have only recently launched their major products in the convenience alcohol space and so far, quantitative data on their involvement is scarce. Still, we pulled together the available findings.
• For instance, Corona Hard Seltzer had a 6% market share in the hard seltzer market shortly after launching.

Introduction & Research Strategy

Coca-Cola: Convenient Alcohol

• The top 5 selling products manufactured and owned by Coca-Cola are listed in row 4 of the attached spreadsheet.
• The first convenient alcoholic beverage manufactured and sold by Coca-Cola was a "fizzy lemon-flavored alcoholic drink" available only in Japan. This drink was called "Lemon-Do Chu-Hi" but is no longer on the market.
• In July 2020, Coca-Cola made the public announcement that their sparkling water brand Topo Chico would be launching an alcoholic sparkling seltzer in the U.S. within the next year.
• According to Coca-Cola's webpage for Topo Chico, the alcoholic version of the sparkling water is not yet available in the U.S. The actual Topo Chico website also does not have any alcoholic beverages listed as products.
• No other alcoholic brands have launched within the past 24 months, nor are any others aside from Topo Chico expected to launch in the near future. Sources used to determine this can be found in row 6 of the attached spreadsheet.
• No financial data for the sales revenue or units sold were located for Coca-Cola's "Lemon-Do" alcoholic beverage in Japan. This was determined after scouring the company's website, annual reports, and news articles. Sources used to determine this can be found in row 7 of the attached spreadsheet.
• All sources used to locate information related to Coca-Cola's position in the convenient alcohol space have been listed in row 8 of the attached spreadsheet.

PepsiCo: Convenient Alcohol

• The top 5 selling products manufactured and owned by Coca-Cola are listed in row 4 of the attached spreadsheet.
• PepsiCo has never manufactured any alcoholic beverages over the lifetime of the company, nor do they have any plans to do so in the future. Sources used to determine this are listed in rows 5-7 of the attached spreadsheet.
• PepsiCo has only ever considered getting involved in the alcoholic beverage industry once, in 2012. However, the company did not move forward with these plans. Sources related to this are listed in row 7 of the attached spreadsheet.
• All sources used to locate information related to PepsiCo's position in the convenient alcohol space have been listed in row 8 of the attached spreadsheet.

KEY FINDINGS

• White Claw Hard Seltzer, Mike's Hard, Cayman Jack, MXD Cocktail, and Bearface are the five biggest portfolio brands of Mark Anthony.
• The company invested $250 million to ramp up the production of Hard Seltzer to meet the growing demand.
• Mark Anthony Brands recently acquired Glendalough Distillery. 
• Mark Anthony Brands launched White Claw in Australia on the 26 of May 2020.
• The company has an estimated revenue of $62 million. 

Research Strategy