Hard is the New Soft, Inside the Hard Soda Drink Trend
Honestly, when I first encountered Not Your Father’s Root Beer I thought it was just another stupid marketing trick for a simple Root Beer. It took me a while to learn that it had alcohol in it, then I knew it WAS just another stupid marketing trick. Boy was I wrong. “Alcoholic Soda” was a $116 million dollar business last year with NYFRB making up 80% of total sales, that’s incredible! Now walk into any grocery/beer store and you will see the aisles flooded with other “hard” soft drinks like Orange, Ginger Ale, and even Cranberry Seltzer.
Full disclosure, I’ve yet to try one and have zero interest in tasting them since I’m not a soda guy, and enjoy my craft/trendy IPA’s. This trend is giving me flashbacks to my High School days when Zima and Wine Coolers were in. I’m interested to see if they continue to grow after the initial media blitz wears-off and their consumers all “tried it” for the first time. Will they get repeat purchasers or will the consumers go back to that trusty Bud Light everyone loves to drink :)