Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/724494
w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m S e p t - O c t 2 016 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 6 1 craft/hard soda brand on the mar- ket today, and the third-largest craft beer brand overall. Six-packs of Not Your Father's Root Beer were also the second-best selling craft SKU in May 2016. "We offered something that was so different and so surpris- ing to folks that, the moment they tried it, the response was explo- sive," says Small Town Brewery founder Tim Kovac. While Not Your Father's Root Beer was the first national hard soda brand, the category has seen explo- sive growth as other companies continue to enter the market. The top nine alcoholic root beer brands amounted to more than $116 million in sales last year. Not Your Father's Root Beer alone represents more than $92 million of those sales, while Boston Beer Co.'s Coney Island Hard Root Beer had the second-largest market share. The hard soda category itself is also rapidly expanding beyond root beer. Small Town has since intro- duced Not Your Father's Ginger Ale and Not Your Father's Vanilla Cream Ale. And MillerCoors, in addition to its Henry's Hard Root Beer, has added Henry's Hard Orange, Hen- ry's Ginger Ale and, most recently, Henry's Hard Cherry Cola to its l i n e u p . A n h e u s e r- B u s c h I n B e v launched its Best Damn Brewing Co. last December, and continues to add flavors to its lineup, which includes Best Damn Root Beer and Best Damn Cherry Cola. SWEET SPOT Robust sales are obviously driv- ing investment interest and expan- sion in the category, but what's behind the numbers? A big part of it is that hard sodas hit a sweet spot, literally, among a wide cross-section of people. They're appealing to cross-drinkers who regularly buy across wine, beer and spirit catego- ries, as well as to consumers who are regular soda drinkers or don't normally drink alcoholic beverages. There's also an element of nostal- gia involved in the familiar flavors remembered from youth. Most, but certainly not all, hard sodas are also relatively low in alcohol, so consumers can enjoy a few without feeling the effects too strongly. " W i t h o u r r e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of American favorites and use of botanical ingredients, we've been able to attract a considerable num- ber of consumers who previously were unable to find beer with these innovative brew styles," Kovac says. "We're grateful for the suc- cess of the brand and we put it right back into the business to continue to develop nostalgia-inspired flavors for modern tastes." While hard sodas appeal to a broad swath of consumers, Henry's Hard Soda is particularly interested in targeting Generation X drinkers, a "target group that's often over- looked in beer marketing," says Marty Maloney, a MillerCoors rep- resentative. A recent television spot for MillerCoors' Henry's Hard Soda, for example, shows a group of middle-aged couples gathering around a television in someone's nicely appointed living room and enjoying a few Henry's Hard Sodas while watching a game. They erupt in cheers, but are quickly quieted by a crying sound coming over a baby monitor. The tagline invites the audience to "Live Hard-ish" as a bottle of Henry's Hard Soda is set on a coffee table and a coaster is quickly slid under it. Nostalgic flavors appeal to consumers, especially those in Generation X. C R A F T B E V E R A G E S R E P O R T