Trade News

→ Bud Light Seltzer launches this month with Black Cherry, Lemon Lime, Strawberry and Mango. The spiked seltzer has 100 calories, two grams of carbs and 5% ABV (alcohol by volume). It’s made with pure cane sugar and natural fruit flavors and comes in 12-packs (single flavor or variety pack) plus individual 16 and 25-ounce cans.

→ Christian Moerlein Brewing from Cincinnati announced new ownership and leadership which was reported in national publication Craft Business Daily in December. Jay Woffington, former President of a global digital marketing and advertising agency, will become the new CEO while current CEO and beer industry veteran Greg Hardman will stay on as “Founder” and “Chief Market Development Officer, focused on expanding brand distribution. Greg initially founded Christian Moerlein in 2004 when he purchased brand assets previously owned by Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing including Hudepohl, Burger  and Little Kings.

“Big Plans” for Little Kings include relaunching the brand nationally and adding new fruit-flavored line extensions starting with Little Kings Agave Lime and Blood Orange. The team wants to capitalize on consumer trends since it’s lighter, sessionable and lower in calories with natural ingredients. “And the iconic 7oz bottle is a bonus,” says Greg.

→ Craft Business Daily reported in early December that data firm IWRS released a comprehensive new hard seltzer report, and here are some mind boggling stats: (1) Hard seltzer volume is already larger than U.S. vodka volume. Indeed, hard seltzers, led by White Claw and Boston Beer’s Truly, are roughly 82.5 million nine-liter cases currently, and “already larger by volume than the leading spirits category in the US – vodka,” according to IWSR. (2) The hard seltzer category “will only continue to grow,” the data firm says. In fact, they believe hard seltzer will “more than triple to reach over 281 million cases” by 2023.