Vodka-based sports drinks appear to be the next big RTD trend at the alcohol industry’s retail tier. “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. Even on Tuesdays, our sales of Super Lyte are unbelievable.”
Produced by Philadelphia-based Stateside Brands—maker of vodka-based Surfside iced teas and lemonades—Super Lyte has 90 calories and no carbs. “Customers are more aware and conscious of what they are consuming and doing what they can to make smarter choices,” Duma says. “Super Lyte is so refreshing, but consumers are concentrated on the calories and carbs in RTDs.”
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 a lot of the under 35s—trendy young Millennials.”
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. When Super Lyte’s variety 8-packs were on back order, individual 12-ounce cans ($3) became available, so Exit 9 began selling them in all four flavors—Fruit Punch, Lemon Lime, Orange. Blue Chill. “People are buying 24 cans of various colors at a time,” Duma says.
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 the demand really exploded over the Fourth of July weekend,” says Ian Aker, owner, Summerland Wine & Spirits in Summerland Key, Florida, and his family also owns Florida Cork and Bottle store in Indian Harbour Beach, Florida. “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.”
Aker advertises Super Lyte on Summerland’s electric outside sign and on a TV inside the store. “We have also made social media post letting customers know we have it in stock, including posting a picture of an entire pallet being delivered to us,” he says. “The pallet picture has received the most comments and messages out of any social media post we’ve done this summer.”
So far, Super Lyte is the only spirits-based electrolyte drink Summerland sells. “I definitely foresee us bringing in additional SKUs in this category, although no distributors have come to me with any new or additional options,” Aker says. “I’m happy to see young consumers excited about a new alcohol item. I believe the added benefits of electrolytes will help keep the momentum strong.”
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.
Super Lyte is the only vodka-based sports drink Archer sells. “With it taking off that quickly, there will probably be different ones coming out,” Tomaras says. “The younger legal age adults are drinking less and may be looking for healthier ways to consume alcohol.”
Duma anticipates bigger RTD brands will come out with their own versions of spirits-based sports drinks. “Within the next year, some of these brands will come out with sports drinks plus Tequila and other spirits,” she says. “Tequila would go with lemon lime. A little rum and fruit punch could be popular.”