Catalyst Spirits, the beverage incubator in which Campari Group owns a minority stake, is entering the RTD market under its Howler Head brand.

The Howler Head & Cola RTD is on sale in Australia and is expected to be rolled out internationally later this year. Just Drinks has asked Catalyst for more information on the plans.

Howler Head & Cola is an RTD mix of banana-flavoured Bourbon and cola with an abv of 6%.

Australia’s population is drinking in higher numbers and more people are favouring RTD products as RTD consumption doubles.

In the year ending September 2023, roughly 14 million Australians of the legal drinking age of 18 consumed alcohol. This marks an increase of 1.8% when compared to the year ending March 2020, according to data from market-research agency Roy Morgan Research.

Roy Morgan’s Alcohol Consumption Report claims that the number of Australians who drink RTDs since 2020 doubled in three years to 4.3 million.

Campari bought a stake in Catalyst Spirits in 2022 months after acquiring a 15% shareholding in the Howler Head Bourbon brand itself.

The Italy-based spirits giant agreed to pay $15m in cash for the stake in Howler Head and can acquire 100% of the brand “through customary call options based on the future brand results achievements” from 2025.

Catalyst Spirits was founded by industry-veteran Simon Hunt, previously global CEO of William Grant & Sons.

As well as being available nationwide in the US and Australia, Howler Head’s main Bourbon offering is sold in Canada and was recently launched in the UK. The banana-flavoured Kentucky Bourbon – which is also the official whiskey of UFC – was launched in 2021 and sold more than 50,000 nine-litre cases in its first year of operation.

Catalyst Spirits has signed UFC fighter Robert Whittaker as brand ambassador for the Howler Head brand in his native Australia.

“Leveraging our partnership with UFC through their vast roster of world-class athletes provides us a marketing and promotional tool that is truly unmatched in its reach and engagement,” Catalyst Spirits CMO Ed Bello said.