Molson Coors expands its offering with non-alcoholic products

Although Molson Coors Beverage Company is known for its beer production, it also has a strong presence in the non-alcoholic beverage market. Despite being a leading brewer of well-known brands of beer worldwide, it has now decided to expand into the non-alcoholic beverage sector.

Kevin Nitz, vice president of Molson Coors Beverage Company, noted that while beer will always be central to his company, “we know there is a huge opportunity with non-alcoholic products and that’s why we are committed to making them an important part of our business.”

As a company, Molson Coors aims to protect alcohol consumption opportunities that are being lost due to the popularity of low-alcohol or non-alcoholic products. In addition, Nitz added that “we have this opportunity to build spaces that operate similarly to our core business in beer, where brand equity and badge value are extraordinarily important, and spaces where our network has a proven track record of success.”
“The Molson Coors company sees great potential in the market of young, over-age consumers looking for non-alcoholic beverages such as beers, cocktails, mixers and tonics. Therefore, they are working on building brands that can appeal to this new generation of consumers.” he added.

The rise in popularity of non-alcoholic beers has led to an 18% growth in sales in the last 52 weeks, according to data from various Circana outlets and stores. To capitalize on this trend, Molson Coors is focusing its efforts on enhancing its non-alcoholic beer offerings to attract more consumers. They will soon launch New Blue Moon Non-Alcoholic in December, joining Peroni 0.0 (launched last year) and Coors Edge, whose success is above average for the category.

According to Nitz, the non-alcoholic beverage segment represents a business opportunity that could reach US$150 billion, figures that could increase considerably. That is why the company is investing in ZOA Energy.

Nitz also added that thanks to the work done on the ZOA brand over the past two years, they are confident that it is in a favorable position to drive strong growth. The belief led Molson Coors to expand its partnership with ZOA last month, an investment that will help the brand double its planned media spend next year.

Also, ZOA became the fastest growing energy drink to reach $50 million in sales after its launch in 2021. Circana’s data shows that it has not only attracted consumers to the $18 billion category, but also kept them: more than a quarter of consumers who have tried ZOA have purchased it five or more times. Now, with a reformulated sugar-free formula, focus on nutrients and new eye-catching packaging, ZOA is poised for growth according to Nitz.

According to the company’s CEO, they are focusing on emerging trends in the energy market, such as caffeine from natural sources, vitamins B and C and electrolytes for hydration. ZOA has all these ingredients and more. Now, his goal will be to increase consumer awareness and strengthen the brand both in general and in retail stores. With increased investment, they have the capacity to make this a priority.

According to Nitz, this alliance also allows Molson Coors to increase its distribution, secure better deals for independent retailers and place more products in coolers. By 2024, ZOA will launch one of its most popular products online, called Frosted Grape, and will also introduce a new marketing campaign.