Simply Spiked Lemonade set for summer launch
Image: Molson Coors
Simply Spiked Lemonade, Molson Coors Beverage Company’s latest foray beyond the beer aisle, is set to hit shelves in the US this June.
It will launch in variety packs of 12oz slim cans featuring four flavours: Signature Lemonade, Strawberry Lemonade, Watermelon Lemonade and Blueberry Lemonade. Select flavours also will be available in stand-alone 24oz cans.
“We’re taking Simply, the number one juice brand in the US, and turning it into the drink of the summer,” says Joy Ghosh, vice president of marketing for above-premium brands and flavoured malt beverages for Molson Coors. “Simply is a beloved brand that is synonymous with real fruit juice, which makes Simply Spiked Lemonade poised to be a breakthrough hit this summer.”
Simply Spiked Lemonade products check in at 5% alcohol by volume and are made with real fruit juice, which Ghosh says sets the brand apart from other competitors in the growing flavored alcohol beverage segment.
“This is not a seltzer. This is a full-flavoured product that we think can win not only with drinkers of non-alc Simply who mix cocktails and FMB drinkers searching for something a little juicier,” he says.
The flavoured malt beverage segment is growing, up 11% in dollar sales between 2020 and 2021, according to IRI. Moreover, the lemonade-flavor subsegment is exploding, up 49% since 2018, with more than $254 million in dollar sales, according to IRI.
Simply Spiked Lemonade is the latest collaboration between Molson Coors and The Coca-Cola Company, which also combined to turn Topo Chico Hard Seltzer into a top-4 hard seltzer in the US market. Topo Chico Hard Seltzer went national earlier this year, and the brand recently launched Topo Chico Ranch Water Hard Seltzer and Topo Chico Margarita Hard Seltzer. It launched in Canada this week.
“We’ve had amazing success with Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, and we know the playbook on how to win with this relationship,” Ghosh says. “And Simply, as a non-alc brand, is seven times bigger than Topo Chico. So, if you think Topo Chico Hard Seltzer was a hit, we’re going to have an even bigger opportunity with Simply Spiked Lemonade.”
