Carving out a larger portfolio of non-alcoholic brands, White Claw maker Mark Anthony Brands is partnering with soccer legend Lionel Messi to launch a new hydration beverage this summer, the company announced today.
In a sparse press release this afternoon with few details, the company said it intends to launch the non-alc brand in the U.S. and Canada this summer, with a global launch to follow.
“I’m so excited about this, I’m invested as an owner. I’ve never done anything like this before,” said Messi in the release.
According to Beer Business Daily, the announcement accompanies the creation of a new Liquid Refreshment Beverage Division at Mark Anthony Brands to be led by EVP Rishi Daing in the U.S. Daing, the outlet claimed, will report directly to Mark Anthony Brands president Phil Rosse.
Rosse reportedly sent notice of the new brand launch to business partners following an all-company meeting this week.
The as-of-yet unnamed hydration brand arrives several months after the company moved into the NA set in December via White Claw 0% Alcohol, a lower calorie, zero proof version of the hard seltzer brand.
The partnership with Messi arrives as the 36-year-old athlete has been subject to retirement rumors. Having led Argentina to the World Cup in 2022, last year he joined Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami on a 2.5-year contract worth up to $60 million annually.
Over the course of his career, Messi has been active in promoting food and beverage brands, including Lay’s, Budweiser and Gatorade (Pepsi). This year he starred in a Super Bowl ad for Anheuser-Busch owned beer brand Michelob Ultra. However, this new partnership with Mark Anthony Brands appears to be Messi’s first food and beverage play as a stakeholder, though he’s an investor in other industries including clothing.
Mark Anthony Brands, whose portfolio also includes popular flavored malt beverages (FMB) Mike’s Hard Lemonade and Cayman Jack, is the fourth largest vendor in the beer category, behind Anheuser-Busch InBev, Molson Coors and Constellation Brands.
The company’s dollar sales increased +2.7%, to $3.019 billion, at multi-outlet grocery, mass retail and convenience stores in the 52-week period ending February 25, according to market research firm Circana. Volume, measured in case sales, declined -2% in the same period. Mark Anthony’s portfolio accounts for 6.58% of all beer category dollars, and the company gained +0.05 sharepoints.