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Surfside sues AB InBev alleging copycat packaging

23 October 2025 By Melita Kiely

The owner of vodka-based hard tea brand Surfside is taking legal action against Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) for allegedly copying its packaging design.

Surfside is alleging Skimmers, created by AB InBev, has copied its packaging design

Stateside Brands, owner of Surfside, launched the Stateside vodka distillery in 2013 in Philadelphia, US.

The distillery produces ready-to-drink iced tea and lemonade vodka drinks, packaged in a can with gradient stripes. The cans also feature a colour rim around the top to mirror the colour scheme at the bottom. The can’s upper half has a white background with a sun design, plus the brand and product name.

Surfside claims a recently launched canned product from AB InBev, called Skimmers, ‘mimics the overall look and feel (or trade dress) of Stateside’s product’.

Stateside said Surfside was ‘an overnight success’ after it launched in 2022. In year two, the brand grew by 563% from 200,000 cases in 2022 to 1.3 million cases in 2023. By 2024, the brand had grown to 4.9m cases.

Surfside was the fastest-growing alcohol brand in the US off-trade last year, after it soared by triple digits.

Stateside included a picture of a consumer with a Surfside RTD tattoo as part of its case, which it used to argue the widespread recognition of its design.

The filing of the trade dispute with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania states AB InBev launched vodka-based RTD Skimmers in April 2025. It is a canned vodka-based iced tea and/or lemonade.

Stateside claims AB InBev’s design for Skimmers ‘is likely to cause confusion, mistake and deception as to the source or origin of Anheuser-Busch’s products and/or to mislead consumers into believing that Anheuser-Busch or its products are affiliated with or sponsored, approved and/or licensed by Stateside and/or its products’.

A jury trial has been demanded to solve the dispute.

Part of the specifications from Stateside’s lawsuits, should AB InBev be found in breach of trade dress infringement, includes paying damages upwards of US$75,000.

The Spirits Business has reached out to AB InBev for a comment.