San Diego-based brand Kove has taken Yerba mate – an increasingly popular, niche tea drink – and given it a 5% ABV upgrade, blending its organic ingredients and caffeinated effects with those of an alcoholic seltzer.
Bending categories, Kove Hard Yerba Mate is caffeinated, alcoholic, and healthy; or at least that's how it is being marketed by the brand, which heavily emphasizes the health benefits of Yerba mate while promoting its products all-natural ingredient lists.
According to Kove, its new hard tea seltzer looks to "harness the powerful qualities of Yerba Mate while paying respect to the spirit and traditions surrounding the South American beverage." In addition, the drinks are entirely vegan, gluten-free, and processed without unnatural additives or chemicals.
The successful launch of Kove – the "world’s first hard Yerba Mate brand" –proves that there remain untapped avenues for innovation within the increasingly competitive hard seltzer market. Moreover, it points to a continuing consumer desire for unique, healthy, micro-brewed alternatives to beer. Particularly, those that combine categories and offer multiple stimulating effects.
Healthy Hard Tea Seltzers
Kove Gives Perma Mate Tea an Alcholic Twist
Trend Themes
1. Hard Tea Seltzers - There is potential to blend organic and alcoholic ingredients to create unique and healthy beverages that appeal to health-conscious consumers.
2. Combining Categories - Innovation opportunities can arise by combining categories and offering multiple stimulating effects, like caffeine and alcohol in the case of Kove Hard Yerba Mate.
3. Micro-brewed Alternatives - There is a growing demand for unique and healthy micro-brewed alternatives to traditional beer, as evidenced by the success of Kove and their hard Yerba Mate seltzer.
Industry Implications
1. Alcoholic Beverages - Innovation is possible in the alcoholic beverage industry by incorporating healthy and organic ingredients to appeal to health-conscious and adventurous consumers.
2. Caffeinated Beverages - The success of Kove Hard Yerba Mate suggests that combining caffeine with alcohol has potential in the beverage industry, particularly in the growing market for energy drinks.
3. Micro-breweries - Micro-breweries have an opportunity to offer unique and healthy alternatives to traditional beer, like Kove's hard Yerba Mate seltzer, to appeal to a niche market of health-conscious and adventurous consumers.