Wonder

Research Outline

Prepared for Gabriele G. | Delivered June 5, 2020

Hard Seltzer

Goals

To provide an overview of the hard seltzer category, including the market size, turnover, key players, their marketing efforts, market potential, and key consumer groups.

Early Findings

Hard seltzer generated a revenue of $1.6 billion in the US in 2019, a tremendous increase from $400,000 in 2018. The category is expected to grow by 270% in 2020 to $4.3 billion.
The two key players in the US hard seltzer category are White Claw by Mark Anthony Brand and Truly by The Boston Beer Co. Both brands represent 90% of the market's size. 
More than half of US alcohol consumers drink hard seltzers once a week. According to a report by IWSR, 82.5 million nine-liter cases of hard seltzer were sold in the US, this is larger than the volume of Vodka in the US. The volume is also expected to rise by more than 300% to 281 million cases in 2023.
Hard seltzers now represent 2.6% of all alcoholic beverages in the US, an exponential increase compared to 0.85% the previous year. The category also represents 5% of all beer/malt sales in the US. Its current share of eCommerce sales is 0.8%, this figure is expected to rise to nearly 2% by 2023. 
Mark Anthony is expected to open a $250 million production site by June 2020 to keep up with the demand of White Claw. The company is also investing in production facilities in Arizona, New Jersey, and Glendale. 
White Claw holds the largest market share of 50%, with Truly coming close behind. A-B’s Bon and Viv is currently regarded as the "third-best" player in the US market. New brands in the category include Corona Hard Seltzer, Natural Light Seltzer, Bud Light Seltzer, Barefoot, and High Noon.
On the global scale, the top hard seltzer brands are Bon and Viv, Smirnoff, Mother Earth Brewing, Sauza Agua Fuerte, Henry, White Claw, Natty Light, Nauti, PRESS, Nude Beverages, and High Noon Sun Sips.
 Millennials are currently the biggest buyers of hard seltzers in the US. 