The much anticipated Australian launch of White Claw, the popular US hard seltzer brand, has officially taken place this week, with the first cans available as of Monday.
Although it has only been a few days, the response has already been incredible. When news of the launch was announced in September, White Claw became the most searched-for seltzer in Australia, tapping into growing consumer interest in the category leading into summer.
At Dan Murphy’s for example, seltzers have been experiencing great growth and a boost in searches of White Claw created the need for an exclusive pre-order campaign.
In late September, Dan Murphy’s Premix Category Manager Andrew McCrae said: “White Claw is without a doubt 2020’s most anticipated drink. We’ve seen a 798 percent increase for White Claw searches on the Dan Murphy website in the last two weeks.
“Since we increased our range in September, we’ve seen more Australians getting curious about seltzers. In the last three weeks, we’ve seen seltzer sales grow with almost 100 percent.”
Orders showed the unprecedented demand for White Claw after the Australia-first pre-order campaign began, with almost 1500 customer orders within the first 48 hours. Then Dan Murphy’s reported that 90 per cent of seltzers sold from the first day in-market across the country were White Claw.
“This is the first time Dan Murphy’s has hosted a pre-order of a ready-to-drink beverage, and we were blown away by the number of customers who wanted to make sure they would be amongst the first to try White Claw the day it launches in Australia,” Dan Murphy’s Managing Director Alex Freudmann said.
“Thousands of our customers are looking forward to finally trying the most anticipated drinks launch of 2020 in Australia.”
White Claw, distributed in Australia by Lion, has become something of a cult classic in the US, growing annually at a triple-digit rate since 2016 to become the country’s number one seltzer brand. At one point, demand was so high that the brand announced a shortage as production couldn’t keep up.
The seltzer comes to Australia with three flavours – mango, lime and grapefruit – with a reputation that precedes it, as Lion’s Managing Director James Brindley said.
“Excitement has gone through the roof in recent weeks and we’ve been delighted with the response and enthusiasm for the brand,” Brindley said.
“If you haven’t heard about it already, now is the time to see what all the fuss is about. This is going to be a game-changer that will take the iconic Australian summer to a new level.”
White Claw is available in Australia in four-packs of 330ml cans with a RRP of $23.99.