Molson Coors Beverage Co. is going all-in with Beyond Beer in Canada. The company is investing around $100 million on the spiked and sparkling segment north of the border.
In early April, the Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP) will introduce both Vizzy and Coors Seltzer to Canadian markets. The budget includes money for “development, marketing, distribution and packaging costs,” according to the Montreal Gazette.
The Canadian expansion represents the company’s largest product launch budget in the last decade.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve done something like this,” said Frederic Landtmeters, president of Molson Coors Canada.
“Our ambitions go well beyond any innovation or product-line extension that we’ve done in the past.”
The Canadian launch is part of the company’s larger strategy to increase its beyond beer portfolio. In early 2020, it replaced the “Brewing” in its name with “Beverage,” illustrating how big the shift in focus was for Molson Coors.
“We’re going big,” says Leslie Malcolm, brand director for seltzer and flavor for Molson Coors in Toronto. “While this marks the official launch of our seltzer portfolio in Canada, more importantly it marks Molson Coors’ transformation into a beverage business.”
In addition to hard seltzer, the beyond beer offerings from Molson Coors include soft drinks and even cannabis-infused beverages. Chief executive Gavin Hattersley expects that these “emerging growth” products will generate an annual revenue of $1 billion by 2023.
The expansion, however, requires significant capital up front. Moving into the Beyond Beer space “creates enormous complexity from a production point of view,” said Landtmeters. “We have to adapt our sites. Not only are they going to keep brewing beer, which remains our core business, but new products that have never been part of our portfolio.”
While Vizzy and Coors Seltzer are initially making the trek up north, other brands – such as AriZona’s SunRise hard seltzer, could follow soon.
Vizzy will be released in Black Cherry Lime, Blueberry Pomegranate, Pineapple Mango, and Strawberry Kiwi. Like its American cousin, it contains the antioxidant Vitamin C, found in the superfruit acerola cherry. Each 355 ml (12 ounces) can contains 100 calories and 5% ABV.
Coors Seltzer will also be released in four flavors: Black Cherry, Grapefruit, Lemon Lime, and Mango. Lighter than many of its competitors, each 355 ml can contains 90 calories and 4.5% ABV.
“Similar to the US, when we looked at the seltzer category, it was a sea of sameness – white cans, low calories and carbs & light on taste,” says Sophia Lal, senior manager of innovation for Molson Coors Canada. “Vizzy and Coors Seltzer are different. They deliver on taste, and they deliver on expectations.”
Both Vizzy and Coors Seltzer launched in the US in 2020. One of the year’s top beer innovations, Vizzy is preparing to release a new lemonade hard seltzer variety pack this spring.
Coors Seltzer hit stores in late August and sold 500,000 cases in its first month, according to a statement from the company.
The seltzer will continue its water conservation efforts in Canada. Again partnering with Change the Course, “the brand plans to restore 2 billion liters of water in its first 12 months in market across at least four significant projects in British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Quebec.”
With the investment, Molson Coors is signaling that spiked and sparkling will remain a priority for years to come.
“We know if we want to be a serious player, we have to be ready to accelerate. And we are,” said Malcolm. “We’re serious about hard seltzer, and it will remain the No. 1 priority in 2022 and beyond.”
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