RTD Spirits Investments: Bomani Raises $3.5M, ‘Merican Mule Brings in SoBE Founders

Bomani Cold Buzz Raises $3.5M

Hard coffee maker Bomani Cold Buzz announced last week that it has raised $3.5 million in an investment round featuring over 40 firms and individuals including Vini Letteri, senior manager director of Blackstone’s growth team, Stagelight Group, Las Vegas Raiders part owner Dan Goldring and Blumhouse TV president of production Jeremy Gold.

Additional investors include Resorts World Las Vegas entertainment manager Brent Freed, Sydell Group chief of staff Scott Herdandez, and an undisclosed leading strategic investor with a sales and distribution infrastructure with reach into over 200,000 retail stores across North America.

Bomani is currently available in original black cold brew and Vanilla varieties. The products retail for $4 per 12 oz. can and are available in 4-packs.

According to co-founder Sam Madani, the investors will “empower and provide valuable advice” to the company as it seeks to grow nationwide next year. Bomani is currently available in 33 states via direct-to-consumer and 11 states in retail. The brand is in over 1,000 retailers including Total Wine & More, Whole Foods and Gelsons.

“When we get into a retailer, merchandising is really key for us,” Madani said. “The fact is 78% of people who purchased Bomani are purchasing it as a compliment to their other drink choices rather than a replacement. Meaning that our distribution and retail partners are able to earn incremental sales, because we’re not creating a product that’s taken away from other things in their portfolio.”

As Bomani launched in Q1 of this year, its initial rollout was quickly disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the company to quickly pivot its go-to-market strategy, Madani said. Because on-the-go sales were down, the brand created an at-home digital marketing strategy focused on in-house brunch and cocktail recipes. As well, the company turned towards outdoor marketing partnerships, including golf events.

“When the pandemic hit, this was a critical point in our business,” Madani said. “So we said a successful business, a healthy business is not a business with a good plan. A successful business and a healthy business is one that can pivot and adapt quickly. So that’s what we built our whole business model around.”

Looking ahead, Bomani plans to introduce new flavors in the new year. As well, Madani said the company hopes to build off the presence of mainstream brands such as Pabst Blue Ribbon entering the hard coffee space to help build the category. Noting that the few competing hard coffees on the market have more indulgent flavor profiles, Madani said “we just see a lot of adjacent products in the category right now — we don’t see a lot of true competitors. “

The Bishop Family Invests in ‘Merican Mule

Connecticut-based ‘Merican Mule, maker of a line of canned ready-to-drink Moscow Mules, announced last week a round of financing led by The Bishop Family, founders of Blue Buffalo pet food and SoBe Beverages. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

‘Merican Mule’s line features variations on the traditional Moscow Mule recipe, including Moscow Style (vodka, ginger and lime), Mexican Style (tequila, ginger and lime), Southern Style (bourbon whiskey with orange and cherry juice) and Tropical Style (rum, ginger and pineapple). The products retail for $12.99-14.99 per 4-pack.

“I think that they saw what we were doing in terms of building a brand as opposed to just creating a product,” Mahoney said. “They’ve obviously been really successful with a couple of big exits and have had the capital, but they also bring a tremendous amount of experience to the table and especially around brand building and marketing.”

According to Mahoney, ‘Merican Mule had been bootstrapped to date but the company required capital to scale production and expand into new regions. The Bishops will serve an advisory role to Mahoney as the brand continues to grow.

David Holmes, founder of hard seltzer brand Bon & Viv (formerly SpikedSeltzer) has also joined ‘Merican Mule in a strategic advisory role. Mahoney said he first met Holmes in 2017, but his position as an official advisor will provide insight and connections into the liquor channel.

‘Merican Mule is currently distributed in about 2,000 retail locations across 12 states in New England, the Tristate area, the Mid-Atlantic and the Southeast. Mahoney said the brand plans to expand geographically next year, targeting states adjacent to its current footprint. The products are sold in retailers including Whole Foods, Target, Total Wine & More and Bevmax, among others. The company also opened a new headquarters in Norwalk, Conn. this fall

The brand is also taking cues from the craft beer space, introducing new seasonal flavor innovations such as a Pumpkin Spice mule this past fall and a new Fire Mule — made with bourbon, ginger beer and cinnamon — for the winter.

“We’re trying to focus on what we think we can deliver really well to the consumer, which is a really, really good mule,” he said. “And our innovation comes in taking the mule and just twisting it into something relevant either at the time or for a certain consumer.”

Mahoney noted that the brand had to scale back its field marketing efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, but with promising news of vaccine distribution expected in the new year ‘Merican Mule hopes to re-energize its sampling and in-store marketing efforts once normal operations resume.