The Coca-Cola Co. is releasing a range of ready-to-serve “flavoured wine cocktails” under CSD and juice brand Minute Maid.
The range, Minute Maid Spiked, marks the orange juice brand’s first foray into the alcohol category.
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Minute Maid Spiked will be available in three flavours: lime margarita, strawberry daiquiri and piña colada. Each will be sold in a 1.5 litre bottle at 13.9% abv.
The ready-to-serve cocktail range will be launched in the first half of 2024 and will be handled by Coca-Cola’s alcohol unit subsidiary, Red Tree Beverages.
Coca-Cola told Just Drinks Minute Maid Spiked will only be available in the US at first. The range will be sold “nationwide” in retail outlets that “sell comparable wine products”, it added.
Asked about the sourcing of wine for the range, the spokesperson said: “The formula and ingredient information is proprietary to Red Tree and we do not share this information.”
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By GlobalDataCoca-Cola created the Red Tree Beverages subsidiary in July to further explore opportunities in alcohol.
The company said the unit, which it called a “firewalled subsidiary” of its main operations, received a federal basic permit (required by all alcohol distillers, importers, wholesalers operating in the US) late last year.
In a statement at the time, Coca-Cola said: “This allows it [the company] to engage further in its relationships with third-party alcohol companies that use The Coca-Cola Company’s brands in the alcohol space.
“Red Tree Beverages will not be distributing alcohol in the US, and neither will The Coca-Cola Company. The creation of Red Tree Beverages is the next logical step in The Coca-Cola Company’s evolution as it continues its deliberate and disciplined experimentation in alcohol in the United States.”
Coca-Cola has a small portfolio of alcoholic beverage products, which are produced and sold by third-party manufacturers. These include Topo Chico Hard Seltzer and Simply Spiked Lemonade (Molson Coors Beverage Co.), and Fresca Mixed (Constellation Brands).
Last year, the company teamed up with Brown-Forman to launch a ready-to-drink Jack Daniel’s and Coca-Cola product. The RTD has since been rolled out globally to markets including the EU and the UK.
In October, Pernod Ricard joined with Coca-Cola to develop Absolut & Sprite, a vodka-based ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail. The product is set to be launched next year.
