Bud Light Seltzer is ringing in its first holiday season with a festive pack of unique flavors.
It’s launching an “Ugly Sweater” variety pack nationwide on November 2 with three new flavors “inspired by the most popular holiday moments.”
Those include Apple Crisp, with hints of apple pie, cinnamon and nutmeg; Peppermint Pattie, which combines peppermint and dark chocolate; and Gingersnap, a seltzer with ginger spice flavor and “delicate notes of brown sugar and vanilla.” The new flavors are being sold in a variety pack that also includes cranberry, an already existing flavor.
The 12-pack is adorned by an ugly sweater design and is available for a limited time only. Similar to its other flavors, each 12-ounce can has 1 gram of sugar and 100 calories.
Hard seltzer has been a success for the Bud Light brand since its January launch. The beverage is the “largest and most successful innovation” in its 38-year-history, a company executive recently told CNN Business. Anheuser-Busch InBev said in its most recent earnings call that seltzer sales grew 600% for the quarter.
The company is regularly adding new flavors to sustain growth, bringing its total up to 10. Bud Light Seltzer added cranberry, grapefruit and pineapple flavors in August in addition to a new premium line with higher alcohol content.
Bud Light Seltzer is hoping the new the holiday-themed flavors help it stand out in a sea of fruity flavors.
Rival Molson Coors recently launched a Coors Seltzer brand with fruit flavors and top-seller White Claw hasn’t released any new flavors since March, which were also fruity. Truly Hard Seltzer, made by Boston Beer, is reportedly launching an iced tea flavor early next year.
More than 65 spiked seltzer brands now line store shelves, according to Nielsen. That’s compared to around 30 brands last year. That’s a statistic that will keep growing as growth in the sector continues.
Anheuser-Busch is rolling out Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer next year, making it the company’s sixth spiked seltzer brand and growing its portfolio aimed at attracting a variety of different drinkers. In addition to Bud Light Seltzer, it already sells Bon & Viv, Natty Light Seltzer and Social Club Seltzer, a premium brand with cocktail flavors.
“Within the hugely successful and growing hard seltzer segment, new and ‘old’ brands alike can succeed even if their market share is relatively small or declining, because the total pool of sales of hard seltzer within US retail is growing at such a high rate,” Danelle Kosmal, VP of Beverage Alcohol at Nielsen, recently told CNN Business.
