AB InBev exec reveals how the company plans to dominate the seltzer market and what the brewing giant really thinks about White Claw
- AB InBev has a master plan when it comes to the hard seltzer market.
- John Blood, the company's chief legal and corporate affairs officer and corporate secretary, spoke to Business Insider at the World Economic Forum in Davos about AB InBev's foray into seltzer.
- AB InBev owns seltzer brand Bon & Viv, as well as other lines of spiked seltzer through its Bud Light and Natural Light brands.
- Blood said that AB InBev is less concerned with competitors like White Claw and more with fulfilling consumers' needs.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
DAVOS, Switzerland - Demand for hard seltzer has bubbled up in recent years. As brands like Mark Anthony Brands' White Claw and Boston Beer Company's Truly proved to be a hit with consumers, UBS predicted that the fizzy category could hit $2.5 billion by 2021.
And the trend certainly hasn't escaped the attention of global drink and brewing giant AB InBev.
John Blood, the chief legal and corporate affairs officer and corporate secretary for AB InBev, told Business Insider that his company has a "competitive advantage" in the seltzer market when it comes to consumer insights.
Blood said that this ability to cater to different customers - in conjunction with its "highest quality" beverage standards and its strong marketing and distributor teams - will help AB InBev mix things up in the hard seltzer market.
All that means is that InBev, according to Blood, is thinking less about rivals like White Claw, and more about what customers crave in a hard seltzer drink.
"We respect all the competitors out there," Blood told Business Insider when asked about White Claw's rise. "I think that for me it's really about what the consumers are saying. It's more about the consumer than it is about the competition."
AB InBev has already rolled out Natural Light and Bud Light seltzers. It also owns the 90-calorie spiked seltzer brand Bon & Viv, which the brewing giant acquired back in 2016.
According to Blood, by rolling out options under the banners of new and longtime AB InBev brands, the company can appeal to a whole range of tastes. And by understanding a consumer's previous beverage preferences, AB InBev has a reference point for the taste profile they might enjoy in a seltzer. He gave the example of a consumer who might prefer white wine to beer.
"A triple hopped IPA is not going to deliver that," he said. "Someone who might be a white wine drinker, and has that flavor profile, they might say, 'Hey, a mango Bud Light seltzer has that fruity flavor. I'll go try that.'"
Blood said InBev had the advantage of employing experienced brewmasters at all levels of the company, notably chief supply officer Peter Kraemer and supply special projects global VP Jane Killebrew.
"I like to think we have the best brewmasters in the business," Blood said. "If anyone can make the highest quality liquid when it's coming out of a brewery, it's our guys and our female brewmasters."
He also singled out the company's marketing department's "great campaigns" and InBev's "unparalleled" distributor network in the United States.
As for the increased popularity of spiked seltzers, Blood said it can be viewed as a growing preference for lighter, clearer, and fruitier alcoholic options.
"We need to be flexible," he said. "We need to understand that the consumer is there. And we need to go and satisfy what the consumer demanded."