The AriZona beverage company – famous for its iconic fruit juices and iced teas – is ready to release its first alcoholic beverage through a partnership with Heineken. The new hard seltzer is one of the 11 product releases featured for 2021 by Hard Seltzer News.

SunRise Hard Seltzer is a 4.6% ABV spiked seltzer containing 100 calories per 11.5 ounce can, no added sugar, and a mere 2-4 grams of carbs per serving.

Jumping into the world of hard beverages is a significant step for the family-owned AriZona, but it has found a willing partner in Heineken, which is trying to grow its own spiked and sparkling footprint.

“As both family-owned companies and brand building powerhouses, there are many synergies between Heineken and AriZona, making this a winning partnership to bring our unique seltzer proposition to the market,” said AriZona Chairman Don Vultaggio.

“AriZona is an iconic player in the beverage industry, famous for bringing delicious and all-natural non-alcoholic products to diverse consumers across the United States and worldwide. Heineken USA brings strong relationships with the distributor network in the United States and extensive manufacturing and brand building expertise in alcohol. Together, we teamed up to both do what we do best. We intend to broaden the appeal of Hard Seltzer by bringing more people to the party.”

Heineken Excited about the Partnership

Heineken spoke to the unique ingredients used in SunRise, which made it an attractive partnership for the Dutch brewery.

“We’re excited to be working with AriZona to introduce the next evolution of Hard Seltzer. Most of the current Hard Seltzers on the market are clear, with similar flavor profiles, so we jointly saw an opportunity to add a splash of fruit to the category as we know consumers are looking for real ingredients and great taste,” said Jonnie Cahill, chief marketing officer for Heineken USA.

“We also believe AriZona SunRise Hard Seltzer is about broadening the appeal of seltzer. The current hard seltzers on the market have very similar positioning and we wanted to offer a range of tastes to appeal to a wide array of people. We are looking forward to bringing the fun of AriZona to the table. AriZona Sunrise Hard Seltzer brings everyone (21+) to the party with a product that puts great taste at the center.”

SunRise Has Flavor

The new seltzer will be introduced in four gluten-free flavors: Cherry Punch, Lemon, Grapefruit, and Mucho Mango (which also happens to be the company’s best selling juice flavor).  

Hard Seltzer Options Multiply in Stores

The Beyond Beer segment – including ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktails and flavored malt beverages – has blown up over the past few years, growing to a $4.1 billion industry, according to Nielsen.

Yet as the Grateful Dead once sang, “every silver lining has a touch of grey.” With more options come more tough choices — for retailers with limited shelf space.

The hard seltzer boom has forced beverage companies to compete for shelf space as more and more new brands hit the market. Retailers are forced to make difficult decisions in terms of what products to carry.

Two areas in which stores can focus are real taste and ingredients, with some choosing only to offer products which differ from the other typical options on the shelf.  AriZona’s new SunRise Hard Seltzer fits the strategy, as it’s made with real fruit, flavors, and color.

Erin Grafton
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