Actress Blake Lively Launches Mixer Brand Betty Buzz

Actress Blake Lively is the latest film star to throw her hat into the beverage industry as the founder of Betty Buzz, a new brand of non-alcoholic sparkling mixers launching today.

Available in five flavors — Tonic Water, Sparkling Grapefruit, Meyer Lemon Club Soda, Sparkling Lemon Lime and Ginger Beer — Betty Buzz mixers are non-GMO and are made with no artificial sweeteners or colors. The drinks range from zero to 70 calories per 9 oz. bottle and are available online for $29.99 per 12-pack. According to a press release, the brand is also rolling out to select retailers across the U.S.

Lively is perhaps best known for her role on the show Gossip Girl as well as in films such as The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Town and Green Lantern, the latter of which stars her husband Ryan Reynolds who owns a stake in Oregon-based distiller Aviation American Gin.

“I don’t drink,” Lively said in the release. “I know that’s odd coming from the wife of an infamous gin slinger. Over the past many years of mixing but not drinking cocktails, it became clear mixers are the unsung heroes of the drink world and deserve just as much love as alcohol. We’ve spent the last three years crafting Betty Buzz and are so excited for people to finally taste it.”

According to the release, the brand is named after her paternal grandmother and aunt, and was selected in honor of her father, Ernie Lively, who died in June. Betty is also the name of Lively’s one-year-old daughter.

“When I was working hard to build this company, I wanted any success to be in a name that was meaningful to him,” she said in the release. “Betty was his mom and his sister’s name. Also, Ernie would not be the best name for a mixer.”

Besides Lively, it is not clear who else is involved with Betty Buzz. According to a LinkedIn post, the company is working with California-based marketing and advertising firm Anti Agency Group.

Lively previously founded ecommerce retailer Preserve in 2014, which specialized in artisan products, but the venture was shuttered a year later and at the time she said it had been launched before it was ready. In 2015 she expressed interest in pursuing a long term business career, telling Stylist she wanted to attend Harvard Business School.

Betty Buzz launches as the mixer category has experienced double digit growth as consumers turned to making their own cocktails at home during last year’s COVID lockdowns. In February, PepsiCo announced a new line of mixers called Neon Zebra while Health-Ade entered the space in March with a line of kombucha-based mixers. Investors have also eyed premium independent brands as Owen’s Craft Mixers closed a $7.5 million funding round in May and startup brand AVEC told BevNET last month that it is in the process of closing pre-seed financing.