Dear Client:<\/p>\n
Gambrinus\u2019 Spoetzl Brewery (makers of Shiner Beer) is entering the \u201cclassic\u201d beer space with a classic of its own: Texas Special.<\/p>\n
Indeed, the company is digging deep into its vault to revive the heritage brand, believing it has found white space in the increasingly crowded space of domestic, er American lagers with a decidedly Texan approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It plans to compete in the space this year with Texas Special at a \u201cfair\u201d price point and sizable investment, all while keeping a healthy distance from the notable Shiner brand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll dive deeper into all that and more below, but first, the brand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A NEAR 100-YEAR-OLD BRAND. If you haven\u2019t heard of Texas Special, have no fear, it is an old, old<\/em> beer. Yep, the brand goes back as far as modern U.S. brewing history goes back, with its debut coming at midnight the morning of December 5, 1933 to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was the<\/em> beer coming out of Spoetzl for several decades, until \u201clarge-scale domestic brewers began using aggressive pricing and tactics, effectively making the small-scale production of beers like Texas Special unsustainable,\u201d per press materials.<\/p>\n REVIVING, REVAMPING AND RETOOLING. Now, after 60 or so years, the brand is making its return with a revamped recipe, and a new-to-world sidekick in Texas Special Light. Original Texas Special checks in at 4.4% ABV, while Texas Special Light clocks in at 4% ABV and holds 98 calories.<\/p>\n The two launched on draft this week in Texas and will roll out in package across the state on March 2nd (Texas Independence Day) in 12-packs and 24-oz. cans, with 12-packs holding a \u201cfair\u201d price point of $13.99 a pop.<\/p>\n BBD caught up with Shiner brand director, Nick Weiland, and Gambrinus national sales director, Tom Doyle, to uncover more about the play at hand.<\/p>\n A LONE LINE IN THE LONE STAR STATE? Speaking to the why of the revival, Nick told us plainly, \u201cWe want to have the opportunity to have a Texas brewed beer from a Texas brewery that sits in that heart of the beer category at a more accessible price point.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He acknowledges \u201cthere are plenty of Texan beers at the high-end of the spectrum (i.e. craft), and there are some at the economy end of the scale that are cheap and cheerful beers (i.e. Lone Star).\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n But this, Nick contends, is \u201ca high-quality premium beer at the heart of the category, a Texan beer that\u2019s sold at that domestic price tier from a 100% Texas brewery,\u201d something he claims has \u201cnot existed.\u201d<\/p>\n So, that\u2019s \u201cthe opportunity,\u201d Nick said, to sit smack in that domestic\/American segment with full Texas flair.<\/p>\n KEEPING A DISTANCE FROM SHINER. In light of its desire to exist squarely in that space, you won\u2019t find much connection between Texas Special and the mother brand, Shiner. Indeed, Texas Special\u2019s packaging, while carrying nods to Spoetzl Brewery, will be absent of any Shiner cues (see brewpic below). And it will hold a degree of separation on shelf too.<\/p>\n They haven\u2019t had any retailers tell them that the Texas Special line needs to sit next to Shiner brands on shelf, and don\u2019t anticipate that happening, but if somebody were to say it, they\u2019d tell them they don\u2019t want it there, Tom said of their \u201cstrong conviction\u201d to keep the two separate. \u201cIt needs to be where other domestic brands are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n $1 MILLION MARKETING PLAN OUT OF THE GATES. While Texas Special might appear as a stand-alone brand on shelf, it is set to receive Shiner backing behind the scenes, as they\u2019ve got \u201ca lot lined up\u201d for the brand this year, Nick said.<\/p>\n \u201cAll in all, we\u2019ve got a million-dollar marketing plan that we\u2019re rolling out,\u201d he said, which will \u201cinclude a variety of tactics across a heavy digital paid social influencer plan, a layer of out of home, and a lot of opportunities in experiential and activations.\u201d<\/p>\n Out of the gates, Nick said they\u2019re the \u201ctitle sponsor\u201d of San Antonio Icehouse Week this month, wherein they\u2019ll roll the new line to close to 50 different Icehouses across the greater San Antonio area, \u201cwhich are just the kind of accounts that Texas Special is a perfect beer for.\u201d They\u2019ll follow that up by being \u201cthe title domestic beer sponsor\u201d of Cattle Country Music Festival music festival in Gonzales over April. They\u2019ll also have some activations around the Austin area during South by Southwest next month and later in the year during Austin City Limits.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last but not least, and among other food and music festivals they plan to activate this year, Nick said they\u2019ll use their relationship with the Texas State Fair (where Shiner is an ongoing sponsor) as an opportunity to get Texas Special out and have it be \u201cfront and center.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo, we\u2019re really leaning heavily into getting the beer out there, and driving these opportunities that make it feel natural, organic, almost like a brand that\u2019s always been there,\u201d Nick said, \u201clike it never went away.\u201d<\/p>\n Closing out, Nick and Tom tell BBD that as \u201cexcited\u201d as they are about the new line, distributor and retailer partners are just as \u201cexcited\u2026 From our vantage point, our distributors have plenty of domestic national beer brands. What they don\u2019t have is a domestic Texas beer brand. And now they do.\u201d<\/p>\n BEER UNDERPERFORMS THE LATEST WEEK OF SCANS, BUT THE USUAL SUSPECTS KEPT GROWING<\/strong><\/p>\n Another week of scandata, another tough showing for beer. In fact, the week ended 2\/16 in the latest Circana saw beer fare the worst of the bev alc categories, as wine got a boost from Valentine\u2019s Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n Where bev alc dollars were down 1.7% for the week, beer was down 3.7%, while spirits were up almost 2% and wine, usually faring the worst of the group, was up 0.8% (sparkling wine up 8.2%).\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe data has recorded 6 weeks of 2025 and thus far results have been a bit confusing,\u201d wrote Circana\u2019s Scott Scanlon, offering some perspective. \u201cInitially we had to sort through calendar alignment and then the question of Dry-Jan at a period when consumers are viewing healthier as longer than a month.\u00a0 The SuperBowl was lackluster to year ago comps despite the larger than anticipated increase week of SB to prior week.\u201d<\/p>\n But as much as we keep pointing to anomalies in the data, ostensibly due to weather, or weird comps, or whatever, the same brands seem to be growing regardless, while the rest is a sea of red.\u00a0<\/p>\n Case in point, even in this not-great week for beer, we see the Michelob brand family up 3.6%, White Claw up 2%, Busch brand fam up 1%, Pacifico up almost 10%, Sierra up 2.3%, Cayman Jack up almost 13%, Clubtails up 8.4%, Guinness up almost 6%, Victoria up 46%, Goose Island up 9.1%, Athletic up 21.9% (well after Dry January, at this point).<\/p>\n As for what\u2019s ahead, Scott said, \u201cif previous trends can be trusted, we should see a fairly consistent range until St. Patrick\u2019s holiday.\u00a0 Will be focused on potential shift to value-oriented products from premium as consumer sentiment declined recently.\u00a0 The spirits category has already seen de-premiumization, but beer and wine continued biased toward premium.\u201d<\/p>\n JACK IS BACK! AI ENERGY SIGNS REDWOOD WHOLESALERS\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Last Thursday, Jack Owoc\u2019s Ai Energy Drink announced it has struck a \u201cstrategic partnership\u201d with Redwood Beverage Company, the private equity juggernaut that has purchased some of the largest A-B wholesalers in the country, making Redwood the top U.S. A-B wholesaler.\u00a0<\/p>\n The partnership will sees Ai Energy go through Redwood partners in key markets \u2014 Silver Eagle Distributors in Texas, Heidelberg Distributing in Ohio and Kentucky, and Pepin Distributing in Florida \u2014 \u201csignificantly expand[ing] Ai Energy Drink\u2019s national footprint, ensuring widespread availability across key markets,\u201d per announcement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Prior to this announcement, we didn\u2019t know terribly much about Ai\u2019s route to market. Last fall we learned via Beverage Digest that Jack planned to use Europa Sports Partners and Muscle Foods USA to cover a swath of U.S. gyms. While it was unclear from the story if Jack would immediately use beer distributors for the off-premise retail trade, he seemed to be reconnecting with some of them. And of course, you can order the brand online (including on Amazon).\u00a0<\/p>\n The Redwood announcement came with some interesting timing: Last Thursday was of course also the day that Celsius announced it would take on Alani Nu, which largely goes through the A-B network. We\u2019re not sure what will happen to Alani\u2019s distribution, but Celsius, itself 8.5% owned by PepsiCo., goes through the Pepsi network.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNOOTROPIC ENERGY.\u201d Jack\u2019s new offering blurs the lines between energy and functional beverage. He says that Ai Energy \u201ccreates an entirely new, highly noticeable effect on key neurotransmitters like dopamine, acetylcholine, norepinephrine, and serotonin\u2014establishing a groundbreaking new category that focuses primarily on the brain: nootropic energy,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n But that\u2019s not all. The company has also just struck a partnership with Kyowa to include \u201cthe highly researched Cognizin ingredient into upcoming Ai Energy\u2122\ufe0f Drink formulations,\u201d which it promises will further enhance Ai Energy\u2019s nootropic benefits, \u201csupporting mental clarity, focus, and cognitive performance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n ICYMI: REYES TAKES ON FULL BROWN-FORMAN PORTFOLIO IN CALIFORNIA<\/strong><\/p>\n Fresh off the news a couple of weeks ago that Reyes would take on Tito\u2019s in California, the company is announcing that it has struck a partnership with whiskey et al. giant Brown-Forman in California, effective May 1, to distribute their full portfolio (as we alerted yesterday).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Recall that Reyes has already been a \u201cstrong\u201d partner to Brown-Forman,\u201dsupporting its Jack Daniel\u2019s & Coca-Cola RTD in California since 2022,\u201d per release. \u201cBrown-Forman currently distributes its remaining spirits in California through Republic National Distributing Company.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown-Forman\u2019s EVP and president of Americas, Michael Masick, said that \u201coptimizing our routes to market is critical\u201d as they continue to grow.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAfter careful consideration, including a formal request for proposal process that began in 2024, we\u2019re confident that Reyes Beverage Group is the ideal partner to help us achieve our ambitious growth objectives in this key market,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n TOM DAY: B-F PARTNERSHIP AN OPPORTUNITY TO \u201cFURTHER POSITION\u201d REYES AS A TOTAL BEVERAGE DISTRIBUTOR. For Reyes\u2019 part, chief Tom Day said the company is \u201cthrilled to continue building our relationship with Brown-Forman and represent their full portfolio of legacy brands, led by the world-renowned Jack Daniel\u2019s, in California.<\/p>\n \u201cThis partnership represents a significant opportunity for Reyes Beverage Group to further our position as a total beverage distributor and leverage our deep market knowledge and industry expertise to drive growth for Brown-Forman. We are confident that our combined strengths and shared values will create a powerful synergy, delivering exceptional results for both companies.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cB-F HAS \u201cONGOING COMMITMENT\u201d TO \u201cEVOLVING ITS DISTRIBUTION NETWORK.\u201d One has to wonder whether such B-F moves will be limited to California. The announcement later added that the partnership \u201creflects Brown-Forman\u2019s ongoing commitment to evolving its distribution network to ensure long-term success in the U.S. The company recognizes the dynamic landscape of the beverage alcohol industry and is proactively adapting to capitalize on new opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n Note, the company is still with RNDC in many other states. \u201cWe value the relationships we\u2019ve built with RNDC, including throughout the 23 other states where we work together, and we appreciate their continued partnership and focus on our shared success,\u201d said Robinson Brown IV, B-F\u2019s SVP and managing director, USA & Canada.\u00a0<\/p>\n RNDC\u2019S LOSSES, REYES\u2019 GAINS? The addition marks yet another top spirits brand springing for Reyes instead of RNDC in California. Recall, back in 2022, Sazerac jumped ship from RNDC to Reyes in the state (as well as in a few Texas cities and Hawaii). Then, Tito\u2019s opted for Reyes in California last month. Now, Brown-Forman is following suit as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n WSWA CONVENTION: THE AGE OF \u201cCOMPETITIVE COLLABORATION\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Earlier this month, our editors at Wine & Spirits Daily <\/em>summed up some of the major themes from the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America\u2019s annual Access Live convention, with some 2,000 in attendance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Collaboration across tiers was a top theme throughout the conference, particularly as it relates to advocacy efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to align as a group \u2013 because the more voices, the stronger the message,\u201d said WSWA chairwoman Dina Opici during the opening general session. Indeed, she opined the importance of getting involved, noting that while \u201cWSWA is leading the charge\u201d on the advocacy front, \u201cthey can\u2019t do it alone. It takes everybody.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n WSWA\u2019S TOP PRIORITIES. Dina highlighted a few key priorities for the trade group this year. They aren\u2019t so different from that of beer, as they include:<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to be present in the conversations that impact our longevity,\u201d she added. Speaking of that\u2026<\/p>\n HEALTH MESSAGING AND DIETARY GUIDELINES. Dr. Laura Catena joined Dina on stage to discuss the recent reports issued on the health effects of alcohol consumption and the impact on the Dietary Guidelines.\u00a0<\/p>\n The first report issued by the National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) \u201cbrings us back to \u2018in moderation,\u2019\u201d said Dr. Catena.\u00a0<\/p>\n She then pointed to a couple of issues with the second report issued by the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD). For one thing, \u201cthey implied causality\u201d between bev alc consumption and certain cancers rather than just noting an association. She also noted a concern about the members of the group themselves, with a few having anti-alcohol ties.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is correct in the ICCPUD report is when they look at harms for excessive alcohol consumption,\u201d she continues. \u201cIt\u2019s the moderate consumption conclusions that are questionable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Dr. Catena also encouraged audience members to write a public comment and contribute to the conversation. The public comment period is open until February 14.\u00a0<\/p>\n THE AGE OF \u201cCOMPETITIVE COLLABORATION.\u201d SipSource analysts Danny Brager and Dale Stratton shared a look at the latest data as well as the forecast for 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNo bev alc category is immune from the current challenges,\u201d said Danny, noting \u201cthat\u2019s not really something we\u2019ve seen in the past.\u201d Part of that is because it\u2019s not just one thing impacting bev alc consumption. Indeed, Dale pointed to consumer changes, competitive threats, the state of the economy and anti-alcohol attacks.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2024, wine and spirits were collectively down 5.5% in volume and 5% in revenue. As per usual, spirits fared better than wine, with total spirits volumes down 3.7% and revenues down 4.3%, while wine volumes were down 7.2% and revenues were down 6.3% for the 12-month period.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dale said he\u2019s \u201cmoved into the acceptance\u201d stage\u2013 \u201cthe numbers are what they are. That doesn\u2019t mean defeat, it means we need to figure out next where we\u2019re going to go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Danny added it\u2019s \u201ctime to focus on rejuvenating category growth. We\u2019re largely in the mature stage of the product lifestyle,\u201d suggesting we\u2019re moving into \u201cthe age of collaborative competition.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRecovery will be slow, but Q1 comps are strong. Spirits in Q1 2024 were down 4.8% in volume and down 5.7% in revenue while wine saw decreases of -9.5% in volume and -7.6% in revenue,\u201d said Dale. \u201cIn 2025, we should expect to see less impact from inventory management at the retail level \u2013 what destocking can happen already has. Retailers can only destock so far before failing to meet their consumers\u2019 needs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The SipSource forecast model shows trends stabilizing at about -5% in 2025 for total spirits (minus RTDs), under current conditions.<\/p>\n BREWPIC<\/strong>: Reintroducing Spoetzl\u2019s Texas Special<\/p>\n Until tomorrow,<\/p>\n Harry, Jenn, Jordan and Bianca<\/p>\n \u201cCharacter is power.\u201d \u2013 Booker T. Washington<\/em><\/p>\n Beernet Radio:\u00a0 Watch<\/a> | Listen<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014- Sell Day Calendar \u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/em><\/p>\n Today\u2019s Sell Day: 17<\/em><\/p>\n Sell days this month: 20<\/em><\/p>\n Sell days this month last year: 21<\/em><\/p>\n This month ends on a: Fri.<\/em><\/p>\n This month last year ended on a: Thurs<\/em><\/p>\n YTD sell days Over\/Under: 0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dear Client: Gambrinus\u2019 Spoetzl Brewery (makers of Shiner Beer) is entering the \u201cclassic\u201d beer space with a classic of its own: Texas Special. Indeed, the company is digging deep into its vault to revive the heritage brand, believing it has found white space in the increasingly crowded space of domestic, er American lagers with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[3171,907,998,10711,139348,11315,8963,1820,6945,1467,11428,106524],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-308972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-beer","tag-business","tag-daily","tag-domestic","tag-gambrinus","tag-industry","tag-mindset","tag-news","tag-numbers","tag-space","tag-takes","tag-texan"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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