Boston Beer Company and Beam Suntory have formed a long-term, strategic partnership to expand their key brands into new cross-categories.
The idea is to initially bring Truly Hard Seltzer into bottled spirits and the Sauza tequila brand further into the RTD category.
The first new products resulting from this partnership will be available across consumer retail channels in the United States by mid-2022, with plans to expand across more key brands in the future, according to a company press release.
As more brewers expand into non-traditional beer products such as hard seltzer, tea and kombucha, this partnership gives both companies an easy entry point for taking a well-known brand such as Truly into the spirits side and visa versa for the Sauza brand. In an era where the lines are becoming more and more blurred between beer, wine and spirits, the Boston-Beam Suntory deal could portend similar deals among beer and spirits companies in the future.
Full press release here.