E. & J. Gallo’s High Noon Sun Sips is taking a dig at its competitors with a new activation aimed at getting consumers to swap their malt based beverages for a High Noon Tequila Seltzer.
The High Noon Tequila Seltzer “Trading Post,” launching in New York City on May 18, is themed around trading posts of the west and will offer consumers the chance to trade in a beverage to enter a “watering hole” where the brand’s tequila line awaits them. For consumers outside of New York City, the company is encouraging customers to text “TQL” to 73876 for a chance to receive a gift card to restock their fridge.
The High Noon Tequila Seltzer launched in March, and was expected to have wide distribution by May. The variety 8-pack features four 4.5% ABV flavors: Strawberry, Lime, Grapefruit and Passionfruit.
The trading post is part of the brand’s 360 national marketing campaign, a series of spots running across broadcast TV, streaming platforms and social media. Comedian Trevor Wallace has joined the brand’s trade-up narrative as well, posting an Instagram video this week promoting the canned cocktail over malt-based seltzers.
The leading seltzer brand expanded beyond vodka with the goal to reach the tequila-first customer, said Britt West, vice president and general manager of Spirit of Gallo.
“We felt like that market was underserved,” he said. “Especially because there’s been a lot of bait-and-switch attempts of putting out tequila sodas that weren’t made with tequila and that were malt or sugar-based.”
The momentum of tequila and RTDs has fueled the market for ranch water brands, many of them deviating from the original Texas recipe and not including tequila. Molson Coors’ Topo Chico launched a ranch water hard seltzer, joining brands like Lone River’s margarita-style Ranch Rita, Karbach Ranch Water Hard Seltzer from Anheuser-Busch InBev and Heineken’s Dos Equis. Some of those tequila-inspired cocktails have had short runs: Boston Beer recently confirmed the discontinuation of Sauza Agave Cocktails, the malt-based extension of Beam Suntory’s Sauza tequila brand that launched March 2022. Boston Beer founder and chairman Jim Koch said that it was “hard to have a malt-based product that is liquor-branded,” during its Q1 2023 earnings call.
But High Noon is not the only tequila seltzer launched this year: Molson Coors expanded Topo Chico Hard Seltzer with Topo Chico Spirited, a 5.9% ABV spirits-based offering that launched with two tequila-based flavors and one vodka-based. Boston Beer Company is also expanding its spirits-based Truly Vodka Soda (previously Truly Vodka Seltzer) with Truly Tequila Soda.
The spirits-based RTD segment has been primarily dominated by High Noon Sun Sips, which increased dollar sales +93.7% YoY and volume +81% in Circana-tracked channels through April 2, making it the No. 7 spirits product by dollar sales.