Molson Coors to launch Coors Seltzer in July
Coors Seltzer will come in four flavors: Black Cherry, Lemon Lime, Mango and Grapefruit. It will be available in variety 12-packs of 12-ounce slim cans, as well as 16-ounce and 24-ounce singles of Black Cherry.
Molson Coors joins Constellation Brands and AB InBev in using the equity of a strong beer brand to embrace the seltzer category (Constellation Brands has Corona Hard Seltzer while AB InBev has Bud Light Seltzer).
From Vizzy to Coors Seltzer
Molson Coors is already gearing up for the launch of Vizzy next month: which differs to Coors Seltzer in that it uses a new stand-alone brand as opposed to the brand equity of an existing product. It also already produces Henry's Hard Sparkling Water - which has been booming with sales volume up 126.5% in 2019.
“Vizzy is still our big national bet in hard seltzers, but there’s no doubt we’ll push on Coors Seltzer given the strength of the proposition and the scale of Coors,” said Sofia Colucci, North American vice president of innovation for Molson Coors. “But we are being smart about this. We’re coming at this market with distinct propositions.”
Vizzy boasts a point of difference with its use of acerola cherry, the superfruit high in the antioxidant vitamin C. It will also will come in four flavors — Pineapple Mango, Black Cherry Lime, Blueberry Pomegranate and Strawberry Kiwi — each of which will contain 100 calories, 1 gram of sugar and 5% alcohol by volume.
Molson Coors also plans to test two new products in the seltzer space, each of which is slated to roll out this spring in three test markets.
“We believe that as the hard seltzer segment continues to grow, consumers will become even more demanding about what’s in their drinks,” Colucci said. “We’re trying to give consumers what they want.”
