Retailers Say New Sports Drink-Inspired RTDs In High Demand
Led by Stateside Brands’ new launch Super Lyte, sports drink-inspired RTDs are off to a fast start, and suppliers, distributors, and retailers are scrambling to keep up with rising demand. Super Lyte launched this spring, focused on northeastern markets that have been strong for Stateside’s flagship Surfside RTD label, and is expected to top a million cases in its debut. It has already surpassed 400,000 cases and $25 million in NielsenIQ channels through August 22.
The non-carbonated, 4.5% abv Super Lyte lineup includes Fruit Punch, Orange, Lemon Lime, and Blue Chill flavors. Each can is at 90 calories, with zero grams of sugar. “We started carrying Super Lyte ($23 a variety 8-pack of 12-ounce cans) in April. It was the first one we got,” says Caitlin Duma, marketing manager at Exit 9 Wine & Liquor Warehouse in Clifton Park, New York. “The branding is beautiful. We quickly sold out of our first order. We got another order, and then it was on back order with our distributor for four weeks.”
Exit 9 then experienced a barrage of customers calling to see if the store had Super Lyte in stock. “We got it back right before Memorial Day,” Duma says. “It was outselling Tito’s ($21 a 750-ml.) Fourth of July week. It’s incredible.”
It’s particularly popular with Gen Z and Millennial consumers. “Definitely the 25-35 age group is drinking Super Lyte, but anyone who drinks canned cocktails is drinking this,” Duma says. “I’ve seen older people drink this, but it’s a lot of the under 35s.”
Exit 9 also sells Vodkade ($22 an 8-pack of 12-ounce cans) and Spiked Ade ($21.82 an eight-pack of 12-ounce cans), but Super Lyte is the store’s top-selling vodka-based sports drink. Duma sends push emails to let customers know when Super Lyte is in stock. “We’re watching it in real time. It feels unreal,” she says. “It’s very exciting to see in an industry where people are drinking less. Consumers are really latching on to something.”
Summerland Wine & Spirits in Summerland Key, Florida began carrying Super Lyte Blue Chill ($5 a 19-ounce can) toward the end of May. “We started bringing a few cases in, beginning on May 27, but demand really exploded over the Fourth of July weekend,” says Ian Aker, owner, whose family also owns Florida Cork and Bottle store in Indian Harbour Beach. “We had a lot of younger tourists asking for the product, particularly the variety 8-pack, so we started bringing it in ($20 an 8-pack of 12-ounce cans). “The vast majority of it is sold to people under 30.”
By the end of July, the Super Lyte variety 8-pack became the No.1 seller in Summerland Wine & Spirits, both in unit quantity and dollars, according to Aker. “It displaced Tito’s handles ($37 a 1.75-liter) for the first time in our business’s history,” he says. “The sales would have continued strong, but we sold out of it the last week of July, and the distributor didn’t have any more until Friday, August 14, when we got another pallet.”
Archer Liquors in Chicago, Illinois, has experienced strong sales of Super Lyte ($20 an 8-pack of 12-ounce cans) since beginning to carry it at the end of April. “Sales have gone crazy,” says store co-owner Dean Tomaras. “We sold 17 units in the first month. Then it doubled, and now we are selling 90 units a month.”
Tomaras says the brand’s popularity is primarily among legal-age consumers in their 20s with its low calories and zero carbs contributing to sales. “The fact it tastes like Gatorade and has electrolytes would probably, in my opinion, be a bigger factor,” he says.
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