A&W Canada is working with Labatt Breweries to offer Budweiser brand non-alcoholic beer alongside its burger and fries combos for a limited time.
Budweiser Zero, the sugar-free version of the brand with 0.0% alcohol, will be available on menus at the A&W restaurants in Ontario throughout the MLB season. Canadians will have the option to purchase the Baseball Buds combo (Buddy Burger, fries and Budweiser Zero) or add a can of the drink to their order. The new offering will be amplified through a digital media plan.
A&W Canada manager of offers and Ontario promotions Karina Lukianenko tells Media in Canada that the brand partnered with Budweiser to meet customer demand for a wider range of drinks that complement burgers. The company has seen growth in that category in particular, so it wanted to offer customers a new experience, Lukianenko says.
“We’re always looking for new ways to connect with our burger lovers,” she says.
The partnership is a natural fit, as Budweiser and A&W are official partners of the Toronto Blue Jays, Lukianenko notes. She adds that A&W thought the baseball season was the ideal time to offer the combo because games generally involve gatherings of friends around food and beer.
Labatt also did not hesitate to partner with A&W, says Andrew Oosterhuis, VP of marketing at Labatt. Oosterhuis tells Media in Canada that the new offering combines burgers with beer, one of Canadians’ favourite foods and drinks in summer. It also expands Labatt’s non-alcohol products portfolio to the QSR sector at a time when non-alcoholic drinks are growing in popularity, he notes.
“Our marketing ambition is to lead and grow the category across RTD, beer and non alcohol,” Oosterhuis says. “This initiative enables us to accelerate the non alcohol category growth by driving awareness and trial via distribution of a new channel with a compelling offer to enjoy a beer and burger in the occasions where they are looking for the taste of beer without the alcohol.”
Non alcohol has been a priority for Labatt since 2015, when they first introduced Budweiser Zero. Oosterhuis says the launch gave Canadians more occasions to enjoy one of Labatt’s best-selling beers and since then, they have also released non alcohol extensions of other popular beers, such as Corona Sunbrew.
If the new offering sees success in A&W stores, Labatt plans to expand it to the restaurant chain’s entire network across the country and engage other QSRs to participate in growing the non-alcoholic category with the company’s portfolio, Oosterhuis says.
The NoLo (no and low) alcohol space has been growing, with increased demand leading to new products and campaigns. A report from The IWSR published last year shows that there is a trend toward conscious drinking in Canada, especially among millennial drinkers. The study also revealed that the NoLo alcohol category is forecast to grow globally 6% between 2023 and 2027, led by non-alcoholic products at 7%.
