Dive Brief:
- Carlsberg Group, one of the top beer producers in the world, is entering into the hard drinks market -- worth $1 billion in the U.S. -- with the launch of Seth & Riley’s Garage, a lemon-based drink with 4.6% abv.
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Seth & Riley's Garage is presented as being inspired by drinks made at home, and that theme carries over to the bottles, which are designed to look hand-made. Even the bars that serve it will be supplied with specially branded jars to serve the drink to reinforce the brand's identity.
- The drink, which carries the tagline “Kind of genius. Kind of” is aimed at a demographic group 25 and up; it is to first be released in Russia and Canada.
Dive Insight:
Valeria Krynetskaya, innovation platform director at Carlsberg Group, said: “This is not only a great new product innovation, but it’s innovative in terms of its creative positioning, which we hope will establish engaging links with our consumer. She went on to explain the position of a drink of this sort as filling the "gap" for the market in their twenties "from sweet beverages to more sophisticated tastes such as beer and wine." She also seems to hint that the drinks that currently aim to fill the gap are designed for more feminine tastes, as she describes them as "overly sweet" and featuring "garish colours." The Drinks Business report used the words "young men" to describe the target market, rather than just "young people."
Certainly, there seems to be a trend in this direction in the U.S., given this month's launch of hard cider by Anheuser-Busch. Carlsberg is not leaving its beer business behind with this new direction though -- earlier this month it made a major acquisition to expand its portfolio to some popular European brands, including a gluten-free variety of beer.