Salty Crew and Coronado Brewing Company’s “boat beer” appears to have struck a chord well beyond the water, driving expansion plans for the beer this year.
The two companies collaborated on the Salty Crew Blonde Ale some two years ago and have been seeing strong momentum since that launch.
Coronado Brewing said the brand accounts for 32% of its overall draft sales.
“I think we both saw the opportunity in the brand partnership and the product was right,” said Salty Crew Co-Founder Jared Lane. “These guys are like family, super fun to work with, and they have a really talented team across the board.”
Market reception to the beer has now prompted plans by the brewery to roll it out to seven more states this year and to develop additional packaging options for sale.
A look back at the beer’s performance last year offers an additional read on its growing regional popularity.
Salty Crew Blonde was No. 3 in the blonde/golden ale brand category, the two companies said, citing data from Nielsen IQ tallied at the end of last year. Dollar and volume sales have jumped 100.9% and 100.4% respectively, according to the same Nielsen data.
The beer is currently sold at Petco Park, Snapdragon Stadium, Pechanga Arena, Disney California Adventure Park, Bear Mountain Resort, and the Peoria Sports Complex, among other retailers and venues.
“Brand Heat”
The collaboration between the two happened organically and made sense, Lane said, given their brand synergies: Coronado touts a tag line of “Stay Coastal,” while Salty Crew’s is “Find Refuge in the Sea.”
Originally, the two partnered on a beer to sell for one evening during the showing of Salty Crew’s film “Sink or Swim” in 2019. The beer was well received and resulted in the development of Salty Crew Blonde Ale, which Coronado tested on draft before placing it in cans for sale. The two announced their multi-year deal in 2020, the same year the beer nabbed a silver medal in the Golden/Blonde Ale category at the Great American Beer Festival.
“It snowballed really quickly. Now, it’s freight-training and still growing,” Lane said.
A similar description could be used for Salty Crew overall, which is seen as a key brand in parent Globe International Ltd.’s portfolio.
Elsewhere in the Salty Crew business, Lane said there’s been a lot of work on film projects more recently. The company also hired North America Vice President of Sales Jason Shelton in January, a hire Lane said adds another level of experience to the overall team.
“We’re still a younger brand with a lot of growth ahead of us,” Lane said in talking about the momentum behind the Salty Crew business. “We’ve felt a lot of brand heat with the consumer and the retailers and had a super high level of support there.”
New products and marketing have helped with that growth, he added.
Said Lane: “There’s still a lot of wind in our sails.”