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Industry coalition to tackle crossover products
Alcohol suppliers, wholesalers and retailers have agreed to market and merchandise alcoholic products linked to existing non-alcoholic brands safely.
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (Discus), Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA), FMI – The Food Industry Association, and the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) have issued a joint statement pledging responsible marketing and merchandising of crossover alcoholic products.
These are categorised as alcoholic beverages that use product and intellectual property such as brand names and logos of existing non-alcoholic brands. In recent years, SunnyD, Lipton, and other established beverage brands have released alcoholic products. Discus issued guidance on how to responsibly advertise these products in December 2022.
“Today’s commitment brings together all three tiers – suppliers, wholesalers and retailers – reinforcing our dedication to responsibly advertise, market and merchandise these products in a manner that avoids consumer confusion and ensures they are only marketed and sold to legal drinking age adults,” said Chris Swonger, Discus president and CEO.
As part of the commitment, producers agree to responsible advertising codes, packaging and branding that is easily distinguishable from non-alcoholic counterparts, to provide clear notice that the product contains alcohol, and to make an appeal to adults of legal drinking age.
For their part, wholesalers and retailers will avoid confusion by placing crossover brands in a separate location from their non-alcoholic counterparts and away from products appealing to children such as toys. As well, they will provide notice that the product contains alcohol if they are unable to adhere to the merchandising guidelines above, and train employees about responsibly selling these products.
“The alcohol industry has a longstanding track record of effective self-regulation, and the nation’s leading spirits and wine wholesalers have placed a critical focus on responsibility efforts in marketing beverage alcohol products,” said Francis Creighton, president and CEO of the WSWA. “This commitment will play an important role in standardising responsible merchandising and marketing practices throughout the country.”
SunnyD, also known as Sunny Delight, debuted its line of hard seltzers in March 2023. The brand first experienced popularity as a non-alcoholic orange drink in the 1990s.
“Harvest Hill Beverage Company conceived and developed SunnyD Vodka Seltzer for adults of legal drinking age, who have responded with their approval,” Ilene Bergenfeld, CMO of Harvest Hills Beverage Company, which owns SunnyD, said. “The team is proud of the distinctly different packaging than the non-alcoholic SunnyD, prominent highlighting ‘Vodka’ and ‘contains alcohol” on both the boxed packaging and individual cans. We have rigorously followed responsible practices in marketing it to adults in both our messaging and channels of communication, and we always encourage consumers 21+ to drink SunnyDVodka Seltzer responsibly. Finally, the company works with its distributors and retailers to shelve and display this product in the appropriate section of their stores, away from the base SunnyD all family juice brand.”