I decided to find out more about these beverages through my good friend
the internet. I found out that squeezable pouches are emerging as a big hit for
alcohol marketers. Ad Age said sales of alcohol pouches
jumped 153% to $154 million in the year ending June 23, according to Nielsen. Pouch
drinks are making rapid distribution gains in grocery stores, and chains such
as Walgreens and Walmart have begun stocking pouch brands in coolers at some
stores.
Seagram’s website has an interactive map where you can find
nearby outlets selling their Frozen Flavors line. Entering a Kingston
zip code yielded 20 outlets within 5 miles. Seagram’s Escapes Frozen Flavors is
a line of single-serve ready-to-drink frozen flavored malt beverages (FMBs).
The lineup includes Margarita, Strawberry Daiquiri, PiƱa Colada and Sangria.
With 5 percent alcohol by volume, the frozen FMBs can be consumed directly from
the 10-ounce pouch. Seagram’s states that “the product can be merchandised in
the beer and cooler section, snack and seasonal aisles and on feature displays”.
Seagram’s Escaped Frozen Flavors has a suggested retail price of $1.99 for a
single-serve 10-ounce pouch and $7.99 for a four-pack.
Parrot Bay
also sells a 10oz pouch for $1.99, and
their products are also 5% alcohol by volume. Their site posts “Take all of the
trouble out of making a good frozen drink! Parrot
Bay tropical drinks are easy and
great tasting. Just freeze, squeeze, and enjoy. Mixed perfectly every time.
Great for outdoors.”
American Beverage Corp., manufacturer of the 8-ounce Little
Hug Fruit Barrel drinks that have appeared in children’s lunch boxes since
1974, now manufactures Daily’s cocktails. “It’s
the No. 1 brand (of frozen pouches), and we have about a 60 percent share of
the market”. A blogger reviewing the pouches wrote “Daily's Ready to Drink
pouches are an alcoholics dream. Booze (10 proof) premixed with the scrumptious
flavor of your favorite mixed beverage. freeze, kneed, open, straw, YUM.
Grab a handful! These pouches go right from the store to the freezer. The
taste, consistency, and refreshment of a frozen blender drink…without the
blender…the clean-up…the noise! You rip open the top and pour a slushy
cocktail…into your glass, or right into your mouth.”
Daily’s also sells Daily's Single Serve Cocktails in
bottles “They're appealing enough to drink from, easy to pour and perfect
for taking with you anywhere. Enjoy warm, chilled or frozen" their site says.
Cordina reports that the company was started by three
enterprising young men who were on a quest to make big bucks. “After
seeing kids drink up Capri juices with straws at
the beach they decided that alcoholic beverages in pouches would
delight adult drinkers.” While many premixed cocktails are malt beverages
(which use a malting process as opposed to fermentation or distillation),
Cordina uses flavorless wine made from fermented orange juice.
$1.99 each, their products include the "Mar-Go-rita," the
strawberry "Daiq-Go-ri," and the "Pina-Go-lada". “Our
product will be in Walmart and Walgreens very soon." The newest 2012
addition is the watermelon "Mar-Go-rita" and the latest mix is the
"Choc-Go-lada". According to developers, the flexible pouch is
squeezable, economical and safe. “Throw the 'Go-ables' into a gym bag,
purse or for thristy night owls, into a bra or undies to get through the velvet
ropes undetected.”
Arbor
Mist boasts that their products “don’t taste “alcoholic” at all". Arbor
Mist launched its line in Walmart (in Merlot Blackberry, Pinot Grigio White
Pear and White Zinfandel Strawberry flavors).
A blogger notes, “there’s nothing stopping you from popping one in
yourself (except maybe your date of birth, but hey, that’s what Bigs and RAs
are for). So just grab a few, freeze them overnight and get yo’ illegal
classroom-drank on the next day—all without ever using a blender or fake ID.”
"Squeezable Vessels Are
Convenient, Appealing to Young Drinkers" boast marketers of the popular
new pouches.
Another article states "Mixing nostalgia for childhood with the thrill of
drinking-on-the-go, or just plain laziness, may explain a new trend in which
adults are buying pre-mixed cocktails in baggies that resemble children's juice boxes. Alcohol companies such
as Smirnoff, Arbor Mist, and Parrot Bay have already marketed their own
brands of portable cocktails in brightly-colored pouches—for those who find
regular liquor bottles too cumbersome (not to mention stigmatizing) to carry
around, as well as for those who find mixing drinks too onerous and
time-consuming. And the pouches are selling like hot cakes. The companies' intention to make
the product appeal to a younger demographic seems to have been successful".
Cheryl DePaolo
Ulster Prevention Council, Director
No comments:
Post a Comment