Gen Z wants flavorful drinks. Here’s how Big Beer is trying to attract them

Beer and hot dogs are as patriotic as it gets. But cracking open the cooler at your July 4th barbecue, you could be seeing fewer brews, with alternatives like spiked seltzers, canned cocktail and hard teas stealing their real estate.

Beer and hot dogs are as patriotic as it gets. But cracking open the cooler at your July 4th barbecue, you could be seeing fewer brews, with alternatives like spiked seltzers, canned cocktail and hard teas stealing their real estate. And you can blame the youngs for that: The youngest cohort of legal-aged drinkers from Gen Z, which encompass the ages from 21 to 26, are “drinking completely different than any other generation we’ve seen before,” according to NIQ’s Kaleigh Theriault. “They’re relatively new to their drinking and when they are choosing alcohol they are leaning toward those flavor-forward categories,” Theriault, an associate director of beverage alcohol thought leadership at the consumer intelligence company, told CNN. Beverages created by smaller companies are controlling the landscape. E. & J. Gallo Winery’s High Noon dominates the spirit-based cocktail category; White Claw from Mark Anthony Brands remains the top-selling spiked seltzer; and newer entrants, including punchier drinks that mix liquor with an iced tea or lemonade such as Surfside, a two-year-old brand, are rapidly gaining ground. That’s a problem for Big Beer, which is dealing with flat sales, declining volume and a fickle generation of younger drinkers who are completely ditching the bottle or preferring anything but a regular beer. In response, Miller Lite-maker Molson Coors Beverage Company, Modelo-brewer Constellation Brands and heavyweight Anheuser-Busch InBev are among the larger brewers expanding beyond beer and diversifying their portfolio with flavorful concoctions.