Anheuser-Busch is stepping up production of its latest seltzer offering after the drink, developed with rapper Travis Scott, saw furious demand, CEO Michel Doukeris told CNBC on Wednesday.
The drink – called Cacti Agave Spiked Seltzer – was launched earlier this week. Its official website said the product had been sold online since Wednesday night, and directed visitors to look for stores that carry it.
In an interview with Closing Bell, Doukeris said that physical retailers also report strong sales. “Some of them say they’ve never seen anything like it before: they sold out in one day,” Doukeris said. “Now we are accelerating production and delivery, because yesterday we sold out completely.”
Cacti Agave Spiked Seltzer now comes in three flavors – pineapple, lime and strawberry – and has 7% alcohol by volume. Anheuser-Busch, a subsidiary of Belgian company AB InBev, said in a press release that the hard seltzer is made from “100% premium blue agave from Mexico.”
Source: PRNewsphoto / Cactus
Travis Scott, an eight-time Grammy nominee, has given a boost to other companies he has worked with. In September, after McDonald’s partnered with Scott to offer their favorite meal for a limited time, the company reported that some of its stores were temporarily sold out of some of the necessary ingredients.
McDonald’s subsequently reported strong sales growth in the same store in the quarter that includes the Scott promotion.
Doukeris said Anheuser-Busch worked closely with Scott, who uses the nickname “Cactus Jack,” to create the hard seltzer. “He was very practical in developing the product itself: the flavors, the logo,” Doukeris said, adding that Scott directed the Cacti commercial, which aired during Sunday’s Grammy Awards.
Cacti is not Anheuser-Busch’s first foray into hard seltzer, which has seen explosive growth in recent years. The company also launched Bud Light Seltzer and Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer. Cactus is “the last to reach our innovation pipeline,” Doukeris said.
The competition in the category warmed up after the success of early players such as White Claw and Boston Beer Company’s Truly in 2019. Molson Coors now has several of its own offerings, including Coors Seltzer, and last year concluded a distribution deal. with Coca-Cola for Topo Chico Hard Seltzer.
Doukeris said the presence of several brands of hard seltzer is welcome, adding that the strength of beverages in general has helped even beer sales after years of decline. “We have seen in the last 12, 14 months, the beer industry in general growing, led by seltzers, but because the seltzers are on the same aisle and the same stores as beer, people are returning to beer,” he said . .