Following successful launches in Mexico and New Zealand, Heineken launched Pure Piraña Hard Seltzer in European markets. The global hard seltzer line asks consumers if they “Dare to reimagine life?”
“With Pure Piraña you can. Born out of love for thinking outside the box, pushing boundaries and adding a little creativity to everything. We swim upstream, break the norms and do things a bit differently around here – it’s a world refreshed.”
The Dutch brewer is launching Pure Piraña in the Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Portugal and Ireland. By 2022 they hope to make the beverage available in the U.K. as well as other countries throughout Europe.
“Pure Piraña is a refreshing and tasteful sparkling water with alcohol, at only 92 calories. I’m proud that we are now sharing this taste experience and the fun of Pure Piraña with consumers across Europe,” said Cecilia Bottai Mondino, Heineken’s Global Head Flavored Beverages.
Pure Piraña will be available to European consumers in three flavors including Grapefruit, Red Berries and Lemon Lime. Each 330 ml can contains 92 calories, 2 grams of sugar and an ABV of 4.5%.
Heineken shifted their priorities last summer as part of a strategy aimed at weathering the effects of the global pandemic. The strategy, branded EverGreen, is a consumer-focused model which, according to the company, involves “do[ing] more to stretch and go beyond beer.”
Many of the largest beverage companies have adopted similar “Beyond Beer” strategies as pandemic-related restrictions caused on-premise beer sales to plummet around the world. In the U.S. hard seltzers and ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktails were the stars of quarantine.
Molson Coors, for instance, recently changed its name from Molson Coors Brewing Company to Molson Coors Beverage Company as part of a larger commitment to their prosperous seltzer and RTD categories. Another power player, Anheuser-Busch, recently announced plans to invest $1 billion into their manufacturing facilities to bolster hard seltzers production and keep up with consumer demand.
Heineken’s Chief Commercial Officer Jan Derck van Karnebeek states, “Innovation is embedded in everything we do at Heineken, which is why we continuously use our expertise to create new and exciting taste experiences for consumers. We are seeing more and more people look for a low-calorie alcoholic alternative and the result is the rapid growth of the Hard Seltzer category. The launch of Pure Piraña offers a way for us to meet customers’ evolving needs and explore a new growth opportunity for our business.”
Heineken will be competing against major players like Coca-Cola and Molson Coors for the European market. Coke successfully launched Topo Chico Hard Seltzer in several European countries last year. Molson Coors recently launched Wai Moment Hard Seltzer in Central and Eastern Europe.
Hard seltzer brands are eager for the beverages to be as well received in Europe as they have been in the U.S. It is still too early to determine which seltzer brands will find success overseas, but Heineken hopes Pure Piraña will take a bite out of the European hard seltzer market.
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