Coca-Cola plans to release its first alcoholic brand in the U.S. in the first half of 2021.
The company has been known for non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups in the last four decades and this would be its first attempt to create a product line of Hard Seltzers in the United States since the early 80s.
“I think what it does say is: Look, we’re going to follow the consumer,” Quincey said in a “Mad Money” interview.
It’s the latest update on the new product since the move was first announced in July.
Coca-Cola will release a hard seltzer under Topo Chico, a drink brand the company acquired in 2017.
The company released an alcoholic drink called Lemon-Do in Japan in 2018. According to CNBC, the initial launch will be made in Mexico, followed by the U.S. launch.
The Brazil launch is expected sometime later this month. In 2018, Coca-Cola also launched Lemon-Do – and alcoholic drink in Japan.
Hard seltzers are appealing to consumers for their lower content of calories and alcohol. As consumer tastes shift, U.S. hard seltzer sales reached $3 billion over the course of a year ending in mid-July, based on research from Bump Williams Consulting Co.
Mike’s Hard Lemonade’s White Claw and Boston Beer’s Truly are the biggest brands in the hard seltzer category, and more companies have joined the market, including Corona earlier this year. Boston Beer CEO Dave Burwick told CNBC earlier this year that the shift to hard seltzer is the biggest category shift he’s seen since the introduction of light beer in the 1970s.
“I think these innovations that we’ve seen, including hard seltzer, are a trend of the consumer looking for new things, and if we want to be consumer-centric … then that’s what’s taking us to this opportunity,” Quincey said.
