Think Hard Seltzer Is on Fire? You Haven’T Seen Anything Yet
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Summer 2020 | V.32 THINK HARD SELTZER IS ON FIRE? YOU HAVEN’T SEEN ANYTHING YET Delivering Excellence Seasonals New Packages New Products Programs ALLAGASH NAVIGATES A NEW ERA | SUMMER SELECTIONS | NARRAGANSETT TAKES A VICTORY LAP Letter toTHE TRADE S NEW HAMPSHIRE SLOWLY BEGINS TO re-open, we salute those people who have In This Abeen heading into work each day during this ISSUE tumultuous time. All frontline employees, whether they work in hospitals, police departments, fire departments, EMS, grocery stores, convenience stores, and drug stores have been working tirelessly Delivering the to provide us with medical care, household essentials, and a general sense of safety. Taste of Excellence ...............1 We also want to thank everyone at Amoskeag Beverages LLC for their perseverance during Cover Story .........................2 very trying times. We have an amazing team of extremely dedicated people that have Feature ...............................4 merchandised the stores, taken the orders, loaded the trucks, and delivered the product to countless stores in NH during this pandemic. In Brewer Highlight .................6 our opinion, we have the best team in the beer business and are lucky they all choose to work at Amoskeag! Leo’s One-Stop Market .........8 While we may never be able to thank the frontline and essential workers enough for their efforts, our brewery partners have really stepped up and shown their appreciation by helping Rooftop at The Envio ............9 those who need it the most. Here are just a few examples… The Boston Beer Company launched the Restaurant Strong Fund. Hop Art ........................... 10 The mission behind the initiative was to provide $1,000 grants to restaurant workers in need, providing immediate relief to those affected. Over $100,000 was directly given out in New Hampshire. New Products .................. 10 Molson Coors pledged 1 million dollars to the United States Bartenders’ Guild, a nonprofit that supports bartenders and other service industry professionals, New Packages ................. 14 millions of whom are out of work due to widespread closures precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Seasonal Selections .......... 15 Amoskeag Beverages LLC, Great North Aleworks, Woodstock Inn Brewery, Moat Mountain Brewing, Smuttynose Brewing and Great Rhythm Brewing collaborated on a new beer called Support Craft ................... 17 Gratuity to support the New Hampshire Hospitality Employee Relief Fund (NHHERF). 100% of the proceeds from sales Programs ......................... 19 of this beer will be donated to the NHHERF, to continue to support our on-premise retailers. The Meals of Thanks program honored Manchester area frontline healthcare workers on National Nurses Day and Amoskeag was happy to team up with our friends at New England’s Tap House Grille to help deliver 900 meals. On Cinco de Mayo we joined Constellation Brands to pass out 140 taco lunches to Concord area frontline heroes. Red Bull and Amoskeag Beverages donated 1000 cans of Red Bull Energy Drink to the frontline workers at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and the DHART helicopter crew in Lebanon. We are incredibly proud of everyone who works at Amoskeag Beverages as well as all of the great suppliers we represent. It’s very encouraging to see that so many have stepped up in this unprecedented time of need. Scott Proulx Ed Murphy Heady Times is published four times a year, courtesy of Amoskeag Beverages. VP of Sales President DeliveringTHE TASTE OF EXCELLENCE Amoskeag People Get The Job Done Matt Palmer Salesman How long have you been with Amoskeag Beverages? 8 years. What’s your favorite part of your job? In sales there’s always competition and I love it! I also really enjoy being able to help my customers grow their business. What’s the most challenging part of your job? Managing all the new items we get in and picking the right accounts to place them in for success. Your most used emoji? Coffee or tea? Coffee. Favorite meal and what beer would you pair with it? Chicken wings with a Guinness draft. Where would you go on your dream vacation? I’d love to head to Ireland and If you had your own talk show, who would your first 3 guests be and Scotland for an ultimate golf trip with why? My guests would be Arnold Palmer, regarded as one of the greatest the boys. and most charismatic players in the game of golf. He was known as the people’s champion. I’d also have Tiger Woods and Tom Brady because Do you have a fun fact about yourself they are hands down the best at what they do. There’s nothing more you can share? I haven’t had a beer since interesting than to hear how these champions think and learn. November 5th…thank God for hard seltzers! Charlie Cayton Breakage Supervisor How long have you been with Amoskeag Beverages? I’ve been working at Amoskeag since 2002. What’s your favorite part of your job? What’s nice about working in breakage is that there is a simplicity to it. The freedom to come to work, do a good job and get the work done makes it a great place to work. Coffee or tea? Neither, I drink soda in the morning to wake me up. Favorite summertime meal and what beer you’d pair with it? Nothing beats a good old barbecue with a Sam Summer Ale. Where would you go on your dream vacation? Even though the flight there would be crazy long, I’ve always wanted to visit New Zealand. www.amoskeagbeverages.com HeadyTimes v.32 1 CoverSTORY Think Hard Seltzer is on Fire? You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet How a Niche Idea Became the Hottest Segment in Beer Overnight Recent sales data confirms that the COVID-19 lockdown has consumers sheltering-in-place with refrigerators full of trusted, longstanding beer brands. The one exception is hard seltzer. These relative newcomers are flying off the shelves. To put it bluntly, hard seltzer is the future of the beer industry. A segment that’s only four years old is now growing by leaps and bounds. Even in these uncertain times, with the COVID-19 pandemic causing many consumers to shop more cautiously and take fewer risks in the beer aisle, hard seltzer is experiencing exponential growth. According to Nielsen’s Vice President of Beverage Alcohol Practice, Danelle Kosmal, categories classified as beer. Nearly half of from March through mid-April, hard seltzer has “accounted for 7.8% of Truly’s volume comes from females under 44 category dollars, up from 5% in pre-COVID time periods.” And believe it years old. “Right now, we feel pretty confident or not, this is still just the beginning for hard seltzer. that we’re in a good place,” says Burwick. Back in 2018 (which feels like decades ago) hard seltzer was a small, Constellation seltzers hit shelves, but surprising segment. It finished that year with a 1 share of the entire Smirnoff gaining ground. beer category, an achievement in its own right. But by the end of 2019, Constellation, the company that imports hard seltzers had defied all predictions yet again, growing to nearly a the Corona and Modelo portfolios, is riding 4 share. Current trends show that by the end of 2020, hard seltzer some of the strongest brand equity in the is likely to triple. Some even predict that by the end of this year, hard industry right now. They recently released seltzer could see a 10 share, a nearly unimaginable rise in just three their own seltzers, available in a 2/12 short years. can variety pack featuring: Tropical Lime, But what changed? What caused this explosive growth? Cherry, Mango and Blackberry Lime flavors. What sets Corona Hard Seltzer apart in an Experts point to the rise of health-conscious consumers. Across nearly increasingly crowded field? Constellation all beer segments we’re seeing rising sales of hard beverages with fewer president Bill Newlands points to the stats: calories, lower ABVs and fewer carbs. Hard seltzer burst onto the scene at Corona Hard Seltzer boasts zero sugar, zero the perfect time. Nearly all of the segment’s leading brands fall between carbs and only 90 calories. “I don’t think 90-100 calories, with an ABV hovering around 5.5% or lower. It didn’t take you’ll find [those attributes] with any of the long for today’s label-reading consumers to other products that have been introduced discover those product attributes. in the market,” says Newland. “We would Phil Rosse, President of Mark Anthony not be entering this category unless we felt Brands, has been central to this we could do it with a superior product with growth with their seltzer brand, White superior margin and profitability structure.” Claw, which now represents 60% of all Even Diageo, which has repeatedly stated seltzer sold. “We have been saying this that their main focus is beer and not seltzer, consistently for a few years now, but we has seen astronomical growth with their continue to believe the seltzer category Smirnoff Hard Seltzers. “We are a relatively growth is a fundamental consumer behavior small player in seltzer,” said Diageo’s Ivan shift,” Rosse recently told Beer Business Menezes in a recent Q & A. But, he added, Daily. “And all metrics point to continued “you can see it in the numbers – it’s strong acceleration and significant upside.” Phil Rosse, President of Mark Anthony Brands double-digit growth.” In order to keep up with demand, Rosse and his team are set to In fact, during the current pandemic, data open, not one, but two new facilities in New Jersey and Arizona by shows that hard seltzer is an even more June of this year.