Anheuser-Busch is among the many greatest names in beer, worldwide. Its mum or dad firm (ABI) raked in almost $47 billion {dollars} in gross sales final 12 months alone. Now it’s entering into the arduous liquor sport by means of the quickly increasing ready-to-drink phase. In actual fact, RTDs are the quickest rising alcohol class within the US. And but they nonetheless account for lower than 3% of home spirits quantity. In different phrases: that is just the start. And with Nütrl, Anheuser-Busch sees area for separation by means of simplicity.
Final month the corporate rolled out what it’s branding a premium vodka seltzer, in three flagship flavors: watermelon, pineapple, and raspberry. The advertising touts “actual vodka” and “actual juice.” Certainly, a read-through of the elements reveals nothing greater than base spirit, seltzer, and fruit. Every 12 oz. can holds simply 100 energy. Absent are any carbs, gluten or added sugars or preservatives.
A bit extra about that base spirit: Nütrl Vodka comes from a Canadian distillery primarily based out of Delta, British Columbia. It makes use of a provincially-sourced rye to provide its flagship liquid, which is distilled by means of a 76-step course of. This elaborate methodology ends in an particularly impartial liquor. Therefore the identify…Get it?
Whether or not or not it’s the “Most Impartial Vodka In The World” — as its website claims — is up for debate. However what you shouldn’t query is that it gives a great clean canvas upon which fizzy water and fruit can shine. To wit, Nütrl Vodka Seltzer, canned at 4.5% ABV, is equally refreshing and sessionable. Out there in selection 6-packs, it’s fairly probably that you simply’d end up eager to pattern a number of flavors in a single sitting.
From a advertising perspective Nütrl is extra noteworthy for what it lacks than for what it lends. Specifically: loudness. Lacking are any kind of flashy packaging thrives or high-profile endorsements, which we’ve come to count on from the arduous seltzer area nowadays. Presumably, the play right here is that the following wave of arduous seltzer customers are accountable adults that don’t essentially wish to go “arduous” in any respect.
Quite the opposite, they simply need one thing straightforward to drink amongst buddies, that additionally fades simply into the background; a beverage that facilitates dialog with out being an element of that dialog. If certainly that is the working mannequin, Nütrl is well-positioned to make a splash. A reactionary product for folk who ever really feel overwhelmed and even intimidated by all of the craft beer and whiskey discuss of the day.
Retailing at $14 per six-pack, the brand new RTD is presently accessible in 11 US states. Anticipate ABI to extend Nütrl’s distribution footprint within the months forward. Will it make a dent within the canned cocktail class? We will quickly see. However with the doorway of a beverage behemoth no much less mighty than Anheuser-Busch, it’s fairly clear that this surging class isn’t any passing section.
Advertising materials exhibits buddies pairing Nütrl Vodka Seltzer alongside pizza
Nick Wiesner
