Less than a year after its launch, Anheuser-Busch InBev is discontinuing Cacti, a hard seltzer brand backed by Travis Scott.
The choice was made after the rapper and influencer received unfavorable press after ten concertgoers at his Astroworld performance in November died as a result of crowd control problems. In the days that followed the tragedy, Cacti’s Twitter account went dark, and as of today, it has been deleted.
The brewer issued a statement saying, “After careful consideration, we have decided to cease all manufacturing and brand development of CACTI Agave Spiked Seltzer.
Fans of the brand will likely comprehend and respect this choice, we feel. When questioned if the choice had anything to do with the tragedy at Astroworld, a corporate official declined to offer any other details.
The Cacti seltzer was it made by Travis Scott?
Cacti, a hard seltzer brand developed by Travis Scott in collaboration with Anheuser-Busch, debuted on store shelves in March 2021.
Anheuser-Busch issued a statement on Friday, December 10, 2021, declaring the end of the seltzer.
“We have made the decision to halt all CACTI Agave Spiked Seltzer production and brand development following thorough consideration. We think brand enthusiasts would comprehend and respect this choice “a corporate spokeswoman stated.
When questioned if the Astroworld tragedy had anything to do with the brand’s termination, the representative reportedly declined to answer.
Scott described creating the brand as “rewarding” before the product was released in the spring.
Building out the CACTI brand over the past year has been really satisfying, he said at the time. “Being able to develop my imagination with something like this image is super essential to me,” he said.
Why did Cacti seltzer disappear?
Anheuser-Busch announced on December 11, 2021, “We have decided to halt all production and brand development of Cacti Agave Spiked Seltzer,” while a source close to Scott indicated that the decision hadn’t been made permanently at the time.
Why did Cacti seltzer become obsolete?
Following the tragedy at the festival that left 10 dead, Nike postponed the release of their most recent Air Max 1 x Cactus Jack sneaker partnership with Scott.
After last month’s horrific Astroworld festival accident, Travis Scott’s spiked seltzer Cacti was canceled.
A 9-year-old boy was among the 10 people murdered in a crowd surge in Houston tragedy that Anheuser-Busch announced would be discontinued on Friday.
Exists Cacti seltzer today?
After the tragedy at Astroworld, Travis Scott’s Cacti Hard Seltzer has been discontinued. The rapper’s debut into the beverage industry was the Cacti hard seltzer line. However, the brand has been discontinued as a result of the catastrophe at his 2021 Astroworld music extravaganza.
What took place, Bon Viv?
The majority of spiked or hard seltzer brands don’t include any distilled alcohol, despite being influenced by and tasting a lot like vodka sodas. The famous canned drinks are actually flavored malt beverages with brewed cane sugar as their alcohol source.
In a dive pub in Westport, Connecticut, in 2012, beverage entrepreneur Nick Shields of Connecticut noticed five ladies placing consecutive orders for vodka sodas. It gave him a thought. Shields made the decision to brew and can the well-known cocktail drink when he was working in the beer sector. He spent close to a year and approximately 100 batches perfecting the recipe before launching SpikedSeltzer in 2013.
The beverage gained popularity quickly and soon gave rise to a whole category with the same name. Profiting from the brand’s popularity, Shields sold it to Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) in 2016 for an unknown sum. Three years later, the beverage was completely rebranded and released under the name Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer by the beverages giant.
Why did New York seltzer become obsolete?
When a beloved product is discontinued, nostalgia gradually sets in among its devotees. But can it survive if it is revived years later?
When a beloved product is discontinued, nostalgia gradually sets in among its devotees. Can the product live up to years of raised expectations when it is revived years later? The majority of the time, the answer is yes: this year has seen a wave of food and beverage brands revived with a nod to nostalgia, from Surge soft drinks to French Toast Crunch. Even Crystal Pepsi is suddenly making resurgence hints. The revival of Original New York Seltzer, a small-batch popular soda that was decades ahead of its time and mysteriously disappeared over 20 years ago, may be the most unexpected comeback to date.
Fans of the soda will recall its recognizable small glass bottles and the colorful cityscape label design with a different hue for each individual flavor. Fans also recall that the drink was abruptly put out of business in the early 1990s when its original proprietors chose to seek other opportunities.
Does Bon Viv still exist?
The once-hot brand Cacti Agave Spiked Seltzer has been discontinued by Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) nine months after it was introduced as “the future of hard seltzer.” The move, which was first reported by Beer Business Daily and Beer Marketer’s Insights, shows how little patience major players have for brand building in the long tail of the hard seltzer market. It also shows that ABI intends to let Bud Light Hard Seltzer, which ranks third in chain stores, Michelob ULTRA Organic Seltzer, and Bud Light Platinum Seltzer, which ranks eleventh, take center stage for the foreseeable future.
Within a week of its launch, Cacti was a top-5 hard seltzer brand, but sales have since dropped to, at most, 1.1 percent of the market, placing it at #9.
69 percent of all chain retail sales are made by the leading brand families in the category, White Claw and Truly. Eighteen brands own 88.9% of the market share, including Cacti.
While it’s unclear if ABI supported Cacti for on-premise placements instead of Bud Light seltzer, which earned about 2% of total can volume in 2021, combined on- and off-premise data from Fintech and the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) had Cacti at just over half a percent of the hard seltzer market.
Only category leaders White Claw (9%), Truly (2.6%), and Bud Light Hard Seltzer (1.9%) are shown by Fintech and the NBWA as having any substantial can share in the on-premise.
Cacti accounts for 1.1 percent of total hard seltzer sales in grocery, convenience, and big box shops, according to IRI’s off-premise chain retail data.
ABI’s preference for hard seltzer families with higher brand loyalty wasn’t Cacti’s only issue, either. A class action lawsuit was filed against it for using the word “agave,” and rapper Travis Scott, a brand partner and celebrity endorser, is currently embroiled in his own legal issues. Scott’s performance at the Astroworld festival on November 5 caused a crowd surge that resulted in ten fatalities, and as a result, Scott is being sued. The rapper’s collaboration with ABI ended on November 30 according to a spokesperson for him who also described the decision to do so as “mutual.” The cooperation was previously described by ABI as “a long-term collaborative effort.
Almost three times as much hard seltzer was sold in 2019 ($5 billion) in chain retail establishments in the United States that IRI tracks during the most recent 52-week period ending November 28. For Cacti, it was $51.2 million, not much less than what Oskar Blues Brewery and Harpoon Brewery together sold in IRI-tracked chain retail. Even 1% of that long-tail market is worth millions of dollars.
ABI seems to be growing impatient with brands that aren’t capturing sizable shares of what’s left of the market while the biggest seltzer brands in the nation continue to dominate it. The top ten hard seltzer brands in chain retail, as tracked by IRI, accounted for 90.9 percent of the market this year and 90.7 percent last year. Given the class-action lawsuit and Travis Scott’s troubled reputation, the niche market for Cacti no longer seems to be worth the effort to establish a brand.
Instead, ABI is sticking with what it is familiar with: expansions of well-known brands. ABI watched the brand fall from a $58 million per year brand in 2018 to one that is on pace to barely hit $15 million this year in IRI-tracked chain retail after it spent a lot of money to buy Spiked Seltzer (now called Bon & Viv) in 2016, and further spent roughly $5 million on a Super Bowl commercial for the brand in 2019. Bud Light Hard Seltzer, Bud Light Platinum Hard Seltzer, and Michelob ULTRA Organic Seltzer are line extensions that ABI introduced to diversify its portfolio in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Bon & Viv and Natty Light Hard Seltzer are still produced by the beverage firm, but like Cacti, ABI is allowing them to take a backseat to other hard seltzer brands in the company’s portfolio.
Molson Coors Beverage Company, ABI’s main American rival, has made a comparable decision by grouping its seltzer products behind its top sellers. Coors Seltzer, which remains the nation’s 15th best-selling hard seltzer brand year to date, was discontinued by Molson Coors in July. Instead, the firm is focusing on Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, which is ranked eighth overall, and Vizzy, which is the U.S.’s fourth-ranked hard seltzer brand. Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, which made its debut in March, now commands 2.2 percent of the hard seltzer market in the United States thanks to recognition for its non-alcoholic sparkling water, which is available in all 50 states and has been expanding quickly for years.
As businesses struggle to determine which of their goods will be the lead horses, change comes quickly in the long tail of hard seltzer. Nine months ago, Cacti made news with a record-breaking launch that saw it sell out in tens of thousands of retailers. According to online beer publication Brewbound, Cacti sold more in its first week than any hard seltzer variety pack in ABI history. It is also said to have become one of the most-followed alcohol brands on social media in general, and ABI’s, thanks in part to Scott’s celebrity support. (ABI removed Cacti’s social media accounts afterwards.)
This is far more than a limited-edition product drop; it is a long-term collaborative effort for all stakeholders involved, ABI told Campaign US, a communications industry newspaper, in May.
Not being was not intended. The brilliance that Cacti once had was tempered by an unexpected tragedy and a class action lawsuit. The brand will be remembered as just another illustration of how ABI prioritizes brands with long-term equity and name recognition over those with truly novel innovation and, at least initially, high potential.
Are Cacti seltzers shelf-stable?
The energizing, delectable, and fashionable alcoholic beverage that has just swept the beverage business off its feet is hard seltzer.
But just as all excellent things have a shelf life, hard seltzers also have one.
EXPIRATION DATE
Refer to the expiration date stamped on the can or bottle if you want to taste hard seltzer at its best.
The drink’s package will often list the expiration date at the bottom with the following wording:
- “Best wishes,
- “Ideally before
- “Useful if made by
- “When utilised by
Hard seltzers can remain unopened and properly preserved for nine additional months after the date stamped on the package, according to StillTasty. They can be kept at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
STORAGE CONDITIONS
Only when the drink is unopened, properly packaged, and kept in a secure, cool, and dark location will the date printed on the package be accurate.
As with any beverage, how it is stored has a significant impact on how long it will stay fresh.
Warning: If you want your unopened hard soda to stay longer, keep it away from heat and light.
HOW LONG DOES HARD SELTZER LAST ONCE OPENED?
It is advisable to consume hard seltzer within a few hours of opening the can or bottle.
Drink it when it’s fresh since after a few hours it will start to get flat and lose some of its flavor.
We know the reason why sodas and other sparkling drinks lose their fizz after being opened and set aside for a few days.
The pressure inside the bottle or can decreases as you pop the drink’s top. The carbon dioxide (CO2) then transforms into gas and bursts into bubbles.
The flavor and sparkling sparkle may gradually fade away if you wait too long to consume the beverage.
SPOILT PACK?
Return the damaged packages and let the supplier know about the issue if you ordered a case of hard seltzers online from the manufacturer or another vendor.
If the can or bottle of hard seltzer appears to be damaged in any way, do not drink it.
DOES ALCOHOL EXPIRE?
The interaction between air and alcohol causes the spirit to weaken or lose some of its flavor.
If kept in a cool, dry environment, bottled or canned ales and dark beers with a higher alcohol level typically last for a long time.
Small-scale, regional breweries’ beers, however, can spoil if they aren’t pasteurized.
The majority of spirits now have a “Best by” date. However, exposure to temperature variations might quicken the decaying process.
For instance, if you purchase a cold beer or hard seltzer, store it in a warm location, and then recool it, the beverage may soon spoil.
DO CARBONATED DRINKS LAST AFTER EXPIRATION DATE?
Options for carbonated, flavored water have become more and more popular in recent years, particularly those that contain alcohol.
If they are kept unopened and stored in a dry location away from heat or light, the majority of carbonated beverages can be used after their expiration date.
Pour the contents of a fizzy beverage into a glass rather than sipping it directly from the can or bottle if you’re not sure how long it should be stored.
Verify the fizz of any bubbles if there are any. Take a look at the beverage’s color and aroma. The beverage would not be suitable for consumption if there were any strange behavior, smell, or color. Simply use common sense and good judgment.
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