In the ever-evolving world of grocery, industry rollups seem to be the way of the world. Whether it is one of the retailers, distributors, brands, or even brokers, it seems like there’s always a story about one of the newer, niche companies being acquired by one of the larger, established ones. While rollup strategies have been the way of the business world for quite some time, often times these bolt-on acquisitions can unintentionally cause the ancillary entity to lose a lot of the qualities that gave them their unique (and consumer-appealing) identities in the first place. However, lately, companies have been showing us that we don’t always have to subscribe to the “eat or be eaten” ideology.
In fact, more often than not, collaboration is the key to success. And an increasing number of brands are subscribing to that mindset by developing brand partnerships. There’s even a typographic symbol often used to denote these collabs (x) which makes them super social media tag-friendly. Designers in the fashion world have been doing it for years but it now seems that the food industry has caught on to the potential benefits it can offer for both participating parties. Often times, it’s for limited run items, but every now and again, one of these marriages results in lightning being caught in a bottle, which leads to its temporary stay in the marketplace being extended to a more permanent placement.
Coca-Cola is the latest one in the news to launch, in partnership with spirits and wine manufacturer Brown-Forman, a co-branded canned alcoholic cocktail, simply dubbed Jack Daniel’s & Coca-Cola. The sleek looking can will look much like the easily recognizable label of the iconic whiskey brand, but with the Coca-Cola logo emblazoned in red below the white font of the Jack Daniels one.
The ready-to-drink beverage, which will have a global benchmark of 5 percent alcohol beverage volume (ABV), will have its initial launch in Mexico in late 2022 and will then be sold globally. The U.S. release is a little further down the road in 2023. A zero sugar version will also be available.
“This relationship brings together two classic American icons to deliver consumers a taste experience they love in a way that is consistent, convenient, and portable,” said Brown-Forman CEO and president Lawson Whiting. “Brown-Forman has been a leader in the ready-to-drink category since we launched our first Jack Daniel’s RTD more than 30 years ago. Coca‑Cola perfectly complements Jack Daniel’s and our existing RTD offerings, enabling us to accelerate expansion and continue to grow our business around the world.”
“We keep consumers at the center of everything we do as we continue to develop our portfolio as a total beverage company, and that includes new products with our iconic Coca‑Cola brand,” said James Quincey, chairman and CEO of The Coca‑Cola Company. “We are excited about our new relationship with Brown-Forman and look forward to the introduction of Jack Daniel’s & Coca‑Cola.”
Two other industry giants that also recently joined forces are Campbell Soup and McCormick & Company, which together introduced a limited edition Old Bay Seasoned Goldfish in May. The aquatic pet-shaped snacks sold out online in nine hours (in spring of last year the two manufacturers partnered up to launch Frank’s Red Hot Goldfish crackers, which ended up being the fastest selling cracker launch of 2021).
Oreo teamed up with Barefoot Wine last December and launched a special limited edition Barefoot x Oreo Thins red blend wine just in time for the holiday season. The small batch release, which according to the two companies, included “flavors of chocolate and cookies and creme along with notes of oak,” was available to order exclusively on Barefoot Wine’s website and consisted of two 750ml Barefoot x Oreo Thins Red Blend Wine and one package of Oreo Thins cookies. It sold out immediately.
And it’s not only big industry conglomerates that are finding success by working together. Boutique creamery Van Leeuwen, which started out in 2008 as a yellow truck selling artisanal ice cream in the streets of NYC, partnered up with Kraft in the last year to produce a limited run Kraft Macaroni & Cheese ice cream that was so successful that, not only did it sell out of the 6,000 pints produced for the general public within one hour of going on sale online, but the Brooklyn-based creamery (which added more product for sale one month after its initial launch) brought the highly requested flavor back this past March for sale during a 10-week rotation period with six other specialty flavors at 3,500 Walmart store locations and online.
Other interesting food brand collaborations that have gone to market include, Taco Bell Doritos tacos (in both nacho cheese and cool ranch-flavored shells), the Pringles Wendy’s Baconator potato crisps, and Mountain Dew x Cheetos Flamin’ Hot soda. Also, collaboration for food brands doesn’t always have to be about two edible mashups. Sometimes, it’s all about taking two otherwise unrelated products and bringing them together simply for the marketing exposure and limited edition appeal they offer.
Look at Mentos x Sally Hansen, Kentucky Fried Chicken x Crocs, and Super Coffee x Poo-Pourri (yes, Poo-Pourri, the bathroom odor elimination spray!). Sometimes the weirder and wackier, the better (for publicity that is). The odd coupling concept has been proven to get shoppers, press and publications, and especially social media buzzing about a product, even if there is no chance for long-term success of the item itself and that is a marketing ploy that can pay returns in not just tenfold, but sometimes even thousandfold if done correctly.
It doesn’t even need to be about mixing two products to make one that stands separately on its own. Utz partnered with Ferrara (a subsidiary of the Ferrero Group) this year to create a Sweet & Salty Mix snack variety pack in different sized options which include individually-packed sweet snacks from Ferrara and salty munching treats from Utz, such as cookies, pretzels, and cheeseballs which can be eaten separately or at the consumer’s discretion, mixed together to create the perfect balance of the two senses of taste.
“Through the snack variety packs we mutually create, we’ll place tens of millions of Utz Brand packages into the hands of consumers across the United States, further accelerating the geographic expansion of Utz Brands. When consumers try our snacks, they repeat purchase at high rates, and we look forward to the exposure and incremental brand trial this will bring to Utz. Aligning Ferrara, Keebler, Mother’s and Utz is a winning combination, and there’s more in store for this creative and powerful partnership,” said CEO of Utz Brands, Dylan Lissette.
“We are constantly looking for new ways to innovate with the consumer in mind, and so we are very excited to partner with Utz and break into the Sweet & Salty category to leverage our expertise in growing storied brands like Keebler and Mother’s cookies and pair that with Utz’s experience in potato chips, pretzels and more,” said Natalie Hagstrom, general manager, cookies at Ferrara. “With our respective diverse portfolios of products, both brands are poised to fuel future innovations in the space.”
There is no one set way for these brands to collaborate – with enough creativity, the sky is the limit on how and who these companies can create an alliance with. In what can often times be a dog-eat-dog world mindset in business, it is great seeing more and more of them working together to create more brand awareness for their participating lines, even if often times, it is just a marketing ploy to get more press in the public eye.
Just remember, as the inspirational Helen Keller once said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
Until next month…
Karen can be contacted via email at [email protected].