New Category Focus – Seltzer

Spiked seltzer hits Australia

SPIKED SELTZER HAS BEEN HUGE IN THE UNITED STATES AND IS SET TO BE THE DRINK OF THE SUMMER, THANKS TO LION CO. LAUNCHING AUSTRALIA’S FIRST, QUINCY.

Words Alana House

It’s been heralded as the drink of summer, overtaking 2018’s frosé, which overtook 2017’s Aperol Spritz, which stole the crown from 2016’s rosé.

And it’s perhaps the biggest threat of them all to summer’s traditional king – beer – due to its unisex appeal, low-ABV and low-calorie count, in addition to its extensive range of flavour variants.

As Paul Mabray, CEO of consumer insight service emetry.io notes to Forbes: “Hard seltzers have capitalized on both the healthy trend, and new flavour profiles, but especially social media and digital marketing. This helped them cross the gender barrier [to male consumers] that many of the other adult beverages as of yet failed to do.”

But what is it?

Essentially a “hard seltzer” is alcoholic water, but it’s not to be confused with mineral water, tonic water or soda water.

Seltzer is made by carbonating plain water with carbon dioxide, while other water mixers contain sodium and minerals.

In the US it is going gang busters.

“Hard seltzer has exploded this past year,” Liz Paquette, head of consumer insights at Drizly, told Forbes. “At this time last year, the top three spiked seltzer brands accounted for 6% of share in the beer/cider/ seltzer category. This year, they’re sitting at a whopping 19% of share. This kind of growth has been unprecedented in recent years on Drizly and has certainly penetrated would-be beer and cider consumers.

Its sales soared by 210% over summer, with industry analysts predicting it will reach $1 billion this year and could be worth $2.5billion by 2021.

A brand called White Claw, owned by Mark Anthony Brands, is leading the category in the US with a 50% market share, followed by Boston Beer Company’s Truly.

Lion is the first major drinks company to launch an alcoholic seltzer into the Australian market.

Called Quincy, the Australian-made, gluten-free, lower carb and lower sugar alcoholic seltzer launched in November and Lion is hoping it will become the drink of the Australian summer.

Lion is banking on the Aussie move towards healthier drinks options as being key to Quincy’s success.

According to IRI MarketEdge, 45% of Australians are concerned with their sugar intake and another 42% monitor how much sugar is in their diet. Quicy contains 50% less sugar than leading vodka premixes.

Lion’s Innovation Director Jo Simpson said: “With the worldwide trend towards moderation – in addition to mindfulness around ingredients such as sugar and carbohydrates – we have created a beverage choice that ticks all the right boxes.

Alcoholic seltzers are perfect for the largest growing occasion - afternoons. Consumers are liking the idea of catching up with friends earlier in the day, more than ever before. If the sun’s out, we want to see bottles of ice-cold Quincy in-hand. And if you’re looking for something slightly more insta-worthy, pour over ice with a wheel of lime or a wedge of passionfruit. It’s the refreshing and slightly odd change we’ve all been looking for.

James Brindley, Lion’s Managing Director said: “Though known for our leading beer portfolio at Lion, Quincy is an innovative response to the growing demand for a lighter drink that tastes great too. At Lion we look forward to continuing to grow our business beyond the core and producing new beverages to suit the changing demands of our drinkers.”