Beverage giant Coca-Cola provided consumers with more information regarding its foray back into hard drinks.

Coca-Cola’s CEO James Quincey provided the update to its change in strategy to Jim Cramer on Monday’s episode of CNBC’s “Mad Money.”

“I think what it does say is ‘look, we’re going to follow the consumer,’” Quincey said, in the first news released about Topo Chico Hard Seltzer since it was announced in July.

“I think these innovations that we’ve seen, including hard seltzer, are a trend of the consumer looking for new things, and if we want to be consumer-centric … then that’s what’s taking us to this opportunity,” Quincey said.

Quincey explained that Topo Chico Hard Seltzer will roll out to US markets in the first half of 2021.

Hard seltzer has indeed revolutionized the adult drinks industry since Mark Anthony Brand’s White Claw hit store shelves in 2016. Dave Burwick, CEO of the Boston Beer Company, which produces White Claw’s closest competitor, Truly Spiked & Sparkling, believes the effervescent rise of hard seltzer is the biggest shift he’s seen in the space since the introduction of light beer.

“There’s this fundamental shift right now that hasn’t happened in the beer category since light beer was launched in the late ’70s, which is called hard seltzer,” Burwick told CNBC.

Most hard seltzers contain around the same amount of alcohol as a light beer, with fewer sugars, carbs, and calories to boot. Plus it has a drastically different flavor profile from beer, making it a natural choice among consumers who don’t prefer the taste of hops and barley.

Coca-Cola introduced Topo Chico Hard Seltzer to select Latin American markets earlier this year. Already popular among mixologists, the hard seltzer will be available in just one flavor, Tangy Lemon Lime.

Coca-Cola acquired the mineral water brand Topo Chico in 2017. Created 125 years ago, the sparkling beverage enjoys a large cult following in Mexico and Texas. As the ancestral home of Topo Chico, it makes sense that Mexico was the first market to sample its new spiked version. Customers in Brazil will also get to taste Topo Chico Hard Seltzer later this month as it continues its expansion.

Topo Chico Hard Seltzer isn’t Coca-Cola’s first experiment with alcoholic beverages, although it has not had a hard beverage in US markets in nearly 40 years. In the late 1970s Coca-Cola sold wine under its label Wine Spectrum, after acquiring several wineries in New York and California. Although Wine Spectrum did fairly well in terms of sales (it was even available in cans on United Airlines flights) the company found the margin on wine to be less favorable than soft drinks.

Within the last few years Coca-Cola has been reevaluating its stance on hard drinks as the spiked and sparkling genre has taken off with consumers. In 2018 it released an alcoholic drink in Japan called Lemon-Do. Although popular with Japanese consumers, Coca-Cola has stated that they do not have any plans to expand Lemon-Do outside of the country, as it was created specifically with that market in mind.

With a timeline forming for the US release of Topo Chico, we’re excited to see what delicious innovations Coca-Cola has in store for customers next.

Erin Grafton
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