But the less-rosy reality tests how much patience PepsiCo and Boston Beer have for this product as its momentum stalls. Current headaches would be more justifiable if HARD MTN DEW were a top seller. Playing the long game is a necessary perspective. PepsiCo, which licenses the HARD MTN DEW name and soda formula to Boston Beer to produce the alcoholic version, has brushed off concerns about this slower-than-expected rollout leadership t old Beverage Digest in Septembe r that the partnership is a long-term one. Boston Beer declined to comment for this story, but founder Jim Koch said during the Beer Insights Seminar in November that regulators in 20-30% of states could block distribution of HARD MTN DEW, presumably due to concerns about how it complicates the traditional three-tier system of alcohol distribution. (Data for Arkansas, the ninth market, is not available.) It was a continuation of months of declines across HARD MTN DEW’s distribution footprint.īoston Beer Co., the company that produces HARD MTN DEW, would no doubt like to offset shrinking sales by opening new states of distribution to inject volume and dollars. 6, HARD MTN DEW posted negative month-to-month sales growth in at least eight of its nine existing sales markets. Now it’s 2.8%.įor the four-week period ending Nov. Tennessee chain stores have sold less every month since the end of April.ĭes Moines, Iowa grocery and big-box stores tracked by IRI show the brand held 18.1% share of FMB sales when it first arrived. In Florida, volume has declined every month in grocery, convenience, and other chain retail stores since it arrived in February. The brand has floundered in its original launch markets: Without new markets, HARD MTN DEW’s overall sales numbers look dismal. Today, it’s struggling, and Dunn says she’s unsure whether it’s still stocked. I n March, a manager at the store said that the product had been selling well and had its own floor display. “We’ve had quite a bit and our manager had to pull cases off the shelf.” “I don’t think it’s doing too well,” says Tia Dunn, an employee at Fareway Grocery in North Liberty, Iowa. (Blue Cloud did not respond to a request for comment.) Despite arriving to wild fanfare, the flavored malt beverage (FMB)’s failure to capture organic volume adds to a growing list of challenges. Blue Cloud faces r egulatory scrutin y and criticism from existing beer wholesalers who claim, without details, that it has marketed HARD MTN DEW to children. Subscribe to Premiumĭeclining sales for HARD MTN DEW come at a difficult time for the brand and for Blue Cloud Distributing, the wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo that distributes it.
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