Beyond Beer

Iconic beermaker making a big splash with game-changing product diversification and inspired packaging masterclass By George Guidoni, Editor

It tastes, looks and smells like nothing recent years. North America’s oldest brewer has “These are the biggest innovation ever produced or sold before in its launches that we have had at Molson proud 245-year-old history of beer- Coors Canada in the last 10 years,” says making. Leslie Malcolm, the company’s brand

But as the run-up to the annual director for seltzer, flavour and emerging summer Beer Wars between Canada’s growth. biggest brewing companies and the “There is a huge opportunity presented ever-growing ranks of craft brewers begins to us by huge consumer demand for prodto gather steam, the Molson Coors Bev- ucts that are lower in calories and sugar, erage Company’s sensational $100-mil- while also still delivering on the critical lion Canada-wide launch of two new consumer needs of taste, flavor and value,” brands of pre-mixed carbonated alcoholic Malcolm told Canadian Packaging in a spritzers this spring is a sure sign of sweep- recent interview on the eve of the new ing transformation and disruption unfold- product rollout supported by massive ing in North American markets for adult television advertising and other elaborate beverages of all types. marketing campaigns targeting much

Produced and packaged at various younger and trendier demographics comproduction and co-packing facilities pared to the traditional beer drinking across Canada, the new Coors Seltzer audience of yesteryear. and Vizzy Hard Seltzer brands of “There an explosive growth in demand fruit-flavored cocktail mixes represent a for better-for-you beverages,” says Maldramatic side-step from the brewer’s colm, citing a “perfect storm” of gamewell-traveled path of chasing market share changing consumer trends driving the gains in flat slow-growth beer markets into popularity of RTD (ready-to-drink) beva promising new beverage industry seg- erage category in general, with spritzers in ment posting stunning rates of growth in particular leading the charge.

Having already successfully launched both new spritzer brands in the U.S. last year, Chicago-headquartered Molson Coors is so upbeat on replicating that early success north of the border that the company has identified hard seltzer as a top priority for the company’s Canadian business.

According to market research firm Nielsen Consumer LLC, the U.S. market for hard seltzers topped US$2.7-billion in June of 2020, while the number of available hard seltzer brands has sored from 10 at the beginning of 2018 to over 65 brands last year.

According to Malcolm, the Canadian market o ers a similarly lucrative opportunity to capitalize on the consumers’ shift to adult beverage like seltzers, which o er the appeal of innovative flavor combinations, the convenience of RTD format, low calorie content and clean-label ingredient lists.

“The growth in refreshment beverages shows no sign of slowing down,” says Malcolm, citing 300-percent annual growth in market demand for hard seltzers.

“And with new flavors, new categories and new verticals coming into play, we’re only going to see that momentum continue,” says Malcolm, citing younger drinkers turning legal age and the increasingly more health-conscious older drinkers for driving the burgeoning seltzer category to phenomenal market share growth at the expense of traditional beer, wine and spirit products.

“We are seeing consumers of all age groups that are actively looking for something a little bit lighter and better for you,” says Malcolm, adding that the two new seltzer brands are strategically positioned to satisfy both groups.

Targeting the more mature segment of the market, the Vizzy Hard Seltzer is available in Canada in four innovative dual-flavor varieties that include Pineapple Mango, Blueberry Pomegranate, Black Cherry Lime and Strawberry Kiwi, each containing the brand’s signature antioxidant Vitamin C from acerola superfruit.

For its part, the Coors Seltzer brand—available in Black Cherry, Lemon Lime, Mango and Grapefruit flavors—is leveraging its parent beer’s brand equity to targeting the younger generation of drinkers and market newcomers.

Featuring the brand’s iconic mountain graphics, the brand’s on-pack messaging also proclaims its allegiance to environmental sustainability by pledging to restore Canada’s fresh water reserves through collaboration with local conservation authorities across the country.

All of the new seltzer products are packaged in sleek direct-printed 355-ml aluminum cans—supplied by CROWN Beverage Packaging LLC—decorated with clean but lively product imagery and graphics set against the signature Coors ‘Silver Bullet’ background hue.

“We expect that Coors Seltzer to

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act as a really great filter brand to bring people into the category,” says Malcolm, “whereas Vizzy primarily targets a seasoned spritzer drinker looking for di erentiation on the shelf, which the brand delivers with our unique dual flavors and our standout packaging.”

Says Malcolm: “With all the choice consumers have now, we believe that having standout premium packaging is a critical driver of purchase intent.

“The Coors Seltzer packaging actively portrays the iconic trademark mountain caps to convey refreshment cues and our water-saving mission,” Malcolm explains.

“For Vizzy, it was really about breaking about breaking the category conventions and breaking the mold,” she states.

“That’s where the bright orange and other vivid colors come in: it is meant to be highly disruptive on the shelf from a packaging perspective.”

As Malcolm relates, both brands are now being sold nationally at approved retailers in single-serve, sixpacks, and mixed 12- and 24-packs, as allowed by the individual provincial regulations on alcohol sales and distribution.

According to Malcolm, harmonizing all the di erent provincial regulations with the company’s production planning was one of many intense pre-launch challenges the company had to address, along with building up a reliable network of production and co-packing partners to facilitate a smooth cross-country product rollout

“We are very proud of the fact that both products are 100-percent made-in-Canada,” Malcolm states.

“Our production partners are working hand-in-hand with our team to enable us to achieve our big ambitions,” Malcolm states, “and our co-packing partners are also essential for distributing the mix-pack SKUs (stock-keeping units), with mix-packs being a huge driver in the growth of the seltzer category, which naturally gravitates towards mixpacks.

“So there is a heavy load of co-packing to be done with these brands,” she says, “and we’re very thankful that we have a great network of production and co-packing partners across Ontario and Quebec.”

As Malcolm reiterates, the Molson Coors Beverage Company has spared no e ort or capital to ensure that both new seltzer brands will follow their early market success in the U.S., where the company reportedly boosted its seltzer production by about 400 per cent last year.

“These two brands represent the most transformational move we’ve made in our journey to become a beverage company,” says Malcolm, referencing symbolic significance of the company’s name change from the former Molson Coors Brewing banner in 2019.

“It’s not only a shift in our business model but in our company culture,” Malcolm sates.

“We have made seltzers our ‘Number One’ commercial priority for 2021,” she says, “which speaks to the size of ambition we have, and how deadly serious we are about the seltzer category.

“It’s a big step for us,” Malcolm concludes, but as a company that has been around for 245 years, we have taken a lot of steps in the past, and will continue to do so in the future.”

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Earthly delights hold key to long-term su ainabili / Jaan Koel

Scientists say that we know more about outer space than we do about the seven seas here on earth. Our oceans have been a source of food, fortune and surprise since time immemorial. Imported from Korea, the Sea Greens Algues seaweed wafers are a testament to the diverse variety of nutritional options o ered by the sea to modern consumers. According to many culinary experts, edible seaweed is considered to be a ‘superfood’ packed with fiber and other useful nutrients and vitamins, which grows naturally in the oceans without any pesticides, fertilizers, fresh water, energy inputs or, of course, the use of arable land. O ered in Garlic, Spicy and Korean BBQ flavors, the roasted seaweed snacks are stacked eight per pack in recyclable plastic trays and overwrapped with an attractive paper-thin printed poly-aluminum pouch that’s securely heat-sealed at both ends. Each individual five-gram portion, comprising three rectangular-shaped strips inside a thing cellophane wrapper, contains a silica gel desiccant to keep the wafers dry and crisp, with each part of the package claimed to be recyclable. Assuming that is the case, I am sure that Canadian consumers will see more and more sea-harvested product like that becoming increasingly more mainstream as part of the broader worldwide e orts to stem the tide against relentless global warming, in which traditional livestock farming, like it or not, plays a disproportionately large role. And with innovative Canadian companies like Cascadia Seaweed Corp. in Sidney, B.C, and Acadian Seaplants Ltd. in Dartmouth, N.S., starting to commercialize their seaweed farm operations, there will be less need to search the world to get your hands on these nutritious and healthy alternatives to traditional snacking indulgences o ering far less nutritional value.

Despite massive e orts to boost their recycling rates, plastic water bottles continue to be reviled by many environmental groups around the world for their contribution to the plastic pollution crisis plaguing our oceans. Say what one may about the scientific merits behind the argument, there is no argument to be had with the 473-ml aluminum bottles used to package the Earth Water brand of spring water marketed by The Earth Group. Based in Edmonton, the company has already displayed its sustainability credentials with its Earth Co ee brand of Fairtrade-certified organic co ee by affiliating the brand to the United Nations’ World Food Program—recipient of the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize—by donating its profits from the brand to provide an additional 400,000 school meals to children around the world per year. While there is no WFP accreditation featured on the Earth Water bottle graphics, the fully-recyclable wide-mouth container— topped o with a one-inch reclosable metal screw-cap just above the conical shoulders—provides consumers with an upscale, highly reusable, and infinitely recyclable packaging option that has already been picked up by leading grocers like Loblaws and Whole Foods Market, along with a growing number of hotel chains across the country.

While domestic cats may care little about sustainability, it is not unreasonable to expect their feline-loving owners to be mindful over their beloved pets’ environmental ‘pawprint,’ if you will. To that end, Canadian cat-care products innovator Catit has developed a new Nuna brand of premium dry cat food containing 92-percent sustainable insect protein. Not just any insects, mind you, but the good old common grubs that typically munch on clean post-industrial waste like cereals, fruits, vegetables, etc., after which they are dried up, grounded and processed into kibble alongside other ingredients (including seaweed!) to achieve the desired taste profile that cats really seem to enjoy. Containing lots of protein, vitamins, omega 6, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, minerals and other things that are good for your furry companions, the Nuna brand cat food is tastefully packaged in large five-kilogram stand-up LDPE (low-density polyethylene) bags oozing with playful colors, clever graphics and well-organized product claim callouts on the front panel, while providing a plethora of interesting product information on the back panels, grouped under headings like “Little Grubs, Big Benefits,” and “Reduce Your Ecological Pawprint.” A real cat’s meow, I dare say.

Coping with stress in these COVID-19 lockdown days makes many people virtually pull the hair out, but a spindly little Head Massager contraption from Mississauga, Ont.-based Upper Canada TheraWell o ers a brilliantly simple therapeutic remedy by enabling you to give yourself arguably the best head massage ever, at least in our current social-distancing lifestyle. Consisting of a rounded handle connected to 12 flexible smoothtipped metal wires that you comb through your hair and move gently around the scalp, the Head Massager quickly stimulates a multitude of pressure points along the head’s surface to produce a marvelous tingling sensation that noticeably invigorates both the body and mind for the daily tasks ahead. And unlike a comb or hairbrush, it actually look pretty cool just standing up on its own as a bathroom shelf or counter decoration of sorts. Conversely, the whole contraption neatly slides back inside the original plastic tube in which retails, making it an easy traveling companion as well as a low-footprint storage container that easily fits into the tightest space or corner until your next relaxing self-therapy session.

brand of spring

(Clockwise) Sea Green Algues roasted seaweed wafers; the Head Massager utensil; Earth Water and Earth Co ee brands in earthfriendly packaging; the Catit Nuna brand of cat-food made with insect protein.

JAAN KOEL is a freelance writer living in Toronto.

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