Dive Brief:

• Betches, a female-founded entertainment and media brand, released its first ready-to-drink canned cocktail, according to a press release.
• The drink line, dubbed Faux Pas, was developed with Spirit of Gallo, an alcohol company that has created popular beverages like High Noon Hard Seltzer and Pink Whitney Vodka. Faux Pas marks the entertainment company's entrance into the alcohol category, which has seen exponential growth in recent years.
• Betches' massive social media presence may help it to generate significant buzz around the new product line. The company media claims to have a community of 48 million people, largely millennial and Gen Z women, which aligns with a key demographic of the canned cocktail market.

Dive Insight:

Between 2019 and 2020 alone, the canned cocktail category grew 50%, according to industry tracker IWSR. Growth of this category was largely driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, as going out for cocktails at a bar was largely not an option. While the category is still relatively small, it is expected to swell and reach between $3 billion and $4 billion in revenue in coming years, per Bank of America Securities' forecast.

Betches' entrance into the alcohol space is unique, as the company's core focus currently centers around digital media and social content. However, the company's massive social media presence, largely made up of younger women, may help to encourage interest in the new line of canned cocktails.

"We're excited to introduce Faux Pas to our audience because we made it specifically for them," Jordana Abraham, co-founder of Betches and chief innovation officer, said in a press release. "My co-founders, Aleen Dreksler and Sami Sage, and I are especially proud to create an alcoholic beverage that we feel appeals to women the way no other drink in the market does. We're especially proud to have made a drink that celebrates female friendships grounded in realness and laughing together at our faux pas."

Buyers of canned cocktails tend to skew female and younger, as women make up 60% of buyers. Consumers in the millennial age group comprise about 62% of buyers followed only by Gen Z, which makes up 23% of the market. However, Gen Z is seen to have the largest growth potential in this category, suggesting Betches is in a good position to expand its presence with its core consumer base through the new product.