Anheuser-Busch is boosting production of its latest hard seltzer offering after the drink, co-developed with rapper Travis Scott, saw furious demand, CEO Michel Doukeris told CNBC on Wednesday.
The drink – dubbed Cacti Agave Spiked Seltzer – launched earlier this week. According to the official website, the product was sold out online as of Wednesday evening and visitors were sent to stores selling the product.
In an interview on “Closing Bell”, Doukeris said brick-and-mortar retailers are also reporting strong sales. “Several of them say they’ve never seen anything like it: sold out within a day,” said Doukeris. “We’re now ramping up production and delivery because we were completely sold out yesterday.”
Cacti Agave Spiked Seltzer is now available in three flavors – pineapple, lime and strawberry – and has 7% alcohol. Anheuser-Busch, a subsidiary of Belgium-based AB InBev, said in a press release that the hard seltzer is made with “100% premium blue agave from Mexico”.
Source: PRNewsphoto / Cacti
Travis Scott, an eight-time Grammy nominee, has boosted other companies he has worked with before. In September, after McDonald’s teamed up with Scott to offer its favorite meal for a limited time, the company reported that some of its stores were temporarily out of any of the necessary ingredients.
McDonald’s later reported strong same-store sales growth in the quarter that included the Scott promotion.
Doukeris said Anheuser-Busch worked closely with Scott, nicknamed “Cactus Jack”, in creating the hard seltzer. “He was super hands-on in developing the product itself: the flavors, the logo,” Doukeris said, adding that Scott directed the commercial promotion of Cacti that aired on Sunday’s Grammy Awards show.
Cacti isn’t Anheuser-Busch’s first foray into the hard seltzer, which has exploded in recent years. The company has also launched Bud Light Seltzer and Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer. Cacti is the “latest to arrive in our innovation pipeline,” said Doukeris.
Competition in the category has also heated up, following the success of early players such as White Claw and Boston Beer Company’s Truly in 2019. Molson Coors now has multiple offerings of its own, including Coors Seltzer, and last year signed a distribution deal with Coca-Cola for are Topo Chico Hard Seltzer.
Doukeris said the presence of multiple hard seltzer brands is welcome, adding that the strength of the drink in general has even helped beer sales after years of downturn. “We’ve seen the beer industry generally grow over the past 12, 14 months, powered by seltzers, but because seltzers are in the same aisle and stores as beer, people are also going back to beer,” he said. .