The Labatt Brewing Company is targeting fast food chains and unlicensed food trucks with a new non-alcoholic beer dubbed 鈥淏udweiser Prohibition Brew.鈥�
The new buzz-free Budweiser targets health-conscious drinkers who want to avoid alcohol. It also opens up new distribution channels for Labatt in Canada鈥檚 increasingly crowded beer market.
While Canadian thirst for low and non-alcoholic beverages has grown in recent years, selling 鈥渘ear-beer鈥� in family friendly-fast food eateries threatens to spark some outrage.
鈥淭he next time you go buy a slice from Pizza Nova - one of the biggest pizza chains in Ontario - you鈥檙e going to see an opportunity to buy a non-alcoholic Budweiser. Nobody has done that kind of stuff before,鈥� said Kyle Norrington, Labatt Canada鈥檚 vice-president of marketing. 鈥淲e spent the time and effort to make sure we crafted the product so that beer lovers can enjoy it anytime any place.鈥�
Norrington says Prohibition Brew is an adult beverage marketed to adults. However, since it has no alcohol, sales to minors are legally allowed.
鈥淚f it shows up at McDonalds people will be talking about how it鈥檚 a Trojan horse to get kids to drink beer. I can鈥檛 imagine a lot of restaurants that cater to families are going to take that risk,鈥� said marketing expert Tony Chapman.
A customer service representative for Pizza Nova confirmed to CTVNews.ca that anyone, regardless of age, can purchase it, but noted that it 鈥渇eels weird to me.鈥�
Labatt already sells several non-alcoholic beers in Canada, but Budweiser Prohibition Brew is the company鈥檚 most ambitious effort to date. Labatt reportedly poured $6-million into its London, Ont. brewery to support the new brand. Canada is the first market to sell Prohibition Brew ahead of a wider release.
Norrington said he sees a major opportunity in improving the quality and taste of non-alcoholic beer, which has been traditionally been relegated to a dusty bottom shelf in the beverage aisles of grocery stores.
鈥淭here is some stigma around the taste of non-alcoholic products. Someone needed to take the time and effort to make one that tastes delicious. That鈥檚 the future, and that鈥檚 exactly what we鈥檝e done,鈥� he said.
Parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev wants non-and low-alcohol products to make up 20 per cent of its global sales volume by 2025. Those products currently account for nine per cent of brewing giant鈥檚 global sales.
Labatt paraded the famous Budweiser Clydesdales in front of Toronto鈥檚 Union Station Wednesday to launch the new beer. Norrington said a glitzy roll-out was needed to get the attention of beer-loving Canadians who never considered a non-alcoholic brew.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not on people鈥檚 radar. Nobody is sitting there thinking, 鈥楬mm. I think I feel like a non-alcoholic beer today.鈥� That鈥檚 partly because nobody has really spent the time and effort to build awareness of the category,鈥� he said.
Chapman applauds Labatt鈥檚 move to lure fitness-focused millennial drinkers and attempt to revitalize a long-forgotten segment of the saturated beer market, but says Labatt would have been better served by tapping into the popularity of craft beer and ditching the Budweiser moniker.
鈥淚 would have just gone with simply 鈥楶rohibition,鈥� the first craft beer crafted without alcohol. As soon as you attach Budweiser to it millennials immediately see it as a mass brand,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ud is my Dads beer.鈥�
