SHS Drinks is moving into the beer market with the launch of two spirit-flavoured beer brands – Cuvana and Dead Crow. The company says the launch has been brought forward from the scheduled spring launch in response to customer demand.
Dead Crow is a 5.5% bourbon-flavoured premium beer combining a light beer base with a rich bourbon spirit which gives it an aromatic bourbon aroma. Cuvana, meanwhile – also 5.5% ABV – partners a light, refreshing beer with sweet-tasting light rum and a hint of lime. Both beers are packaged in 330ml bottle 4-packs with an RRP* of £5.49, and are available from mid-January.
Aimed at 18 to 25-year-olds, awareness for the new brands will be driven through a combination of social media, sampling and presence at music festivals. Free POS materials will also be made available to stockists to increase visibility in-store and at point-of-purchase (available from the POS Hotline – 0800 917 3450).
Mark Hopper, Head of Innovation and Development at SHS Drinks, says: “The growth in the take home lager market is being driven primarily by two sectors – the emerging spirit beer category; and world beers. Over the past year, volume sales of spirit beers in the take home sector have increased by a staggering 75%, albeit from a relatively small base, with value sales up by 71%, bringing the value of the category to just over £12m in 2012. The more established World Beer category worth £436m is also faring well, with volume sales up by 7% and value by 8%. The underlying reason for these robust performances is consumers’ unrelenting quest, particularly amongst aspirational 18 to 25 year-olds, to seek out and discover new drinks and flavour experiences.”
Hopper explains: “There is a lot of interest in spirit flavoured beers, stimulated largely by the arrival of Desperados, the tequila-flavoured beer, which currently accounts for more than two-thirds of take home spirit flavoured beer sales. But there isn’t currently a great deal of choice of spirit flavours as other contenders have tended to jump on the tequila beer bandwagon.
Hopper adds: “The fact that we are bringing new news to the beer category, and that these are premium brands which offer a point of difference and add value to the beer fixture, has also been enthusiastically welcomed by our customers – so much so that we have responded to requests to bring forward the launch, which was scheduled for Spring, to the New Year as retailers and wholesalers have been keen to get Dead Crow and Cuvana on shelf at the earliest opportunity.”
SHS Drinks is positioning Dead Crow and Cuvana as premium world beer brands which are likely to be consumed on relatively high energy social occasions such as parties and having a few friends around for a drink, and is recommending that the 4-packs are merchandised in the world beer section of the beer fixture along with brands such as Desperados, Sol, Corona and San Miguel.
