Seltzer
Lion gets its claws into the alcoholic seltzer market ALCOHOLIC SELTZER PHENOMENON WHITE CLAW WILL HIT THE SHELVES IN AUSTRALIA IN OCTOBER, WITH LION ACQUIRING THE RIGHTS TO IMPORT, MARKET AND DISTRIBUTE THE BEVERAGE IN AUSTRALIA.
The brand leads its category in the United States, with sales growing by 315% in the year-to-date and in excess of 80 million cases sold. Initially Lion will import and distribute three leading variants – Mango, Natural Lime and Ruby Grapefruit, with more to come. James Brindley, Managing Director of Lion Australia, is bullish about the brand’s prospects: “The popularity of White Claw cannot be disputed. Despite the fact the product has not actually been available in Australia up until now, it has well and truly earned its place in popular culture and is the market leader globally in this exciting new category. It is the most sought-after beverage brand in the world right now. “It is a natural fit for our growing portfolio of adult beverages beyond our core beer range – and taps into a number of consumer trends around lower calorie and lower sugar products. We believe the seltzer category represents a significant growth opportunity for Lion over the coming years and we are looking forward to bringing the biggest seltzer brand in the world to Australia.”
THE CULT OF WHITE CLAW
Launched in 2016, the name White Claw takes its inspiration from the legend of the white claw wave — when three perfect crests come together to create a moment of pure refreshment. In the US, the brand has close to 60% market share of the seltzer category, almost three times the size of its nearest competitor,
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and in the process has become something of a cultural behemoth, with passionate consumers in their millions championing White Claw online. It’s also made owner Anthony von Mandl a billionaire, with a net worth of about $3.4 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Von Mandl sees White Claw as the beverage of the future. He told a beer wholesalers convention last year that “the consumers flocking to White Claw today are not going to magically return to the megabeer brands of yesterday.” Struggling to keep up with domestic demand, his company just invested $250 million in new production facilities as it looks to international expansion.
Research firm IWSR Drinks Market Analysis says Von Mandl is on the money. While it predicts double-digit declines in 2020 for total global alcohol consumption, alcoholic seltzer will buck the trend by continuing to grow during COVID-19. Those findings dovetail with the latest data from Nielsen, which shows the number of consumers buying alcoholic seltzer in the off-premise between March 1 and April 25, 2020, nearly doubled. And 44% of buyers were doing so for the first time. In the week ending May 23, alcoholic seltzer increasing off-premise dollar sales 272% in the US and reached 10.1% dollar share of the beer category. Davin Nugent, CEO of Mark Anthony Brands International, said the company was
