Kraft Heinz is trying its hand at booze. The company is introducing Crystal Light vodka seltzers, "its first alcohol product for grocery stores," per the Wall Street Journal. Executives took notice of social media posts in which younger users described using Crystal Light flavor mixes, traditionally added to water, to flavor alcoholic drinks and decided to run with the idea. The result is Crystal Light "vodka refreshers" in lemonade and wild strawberry flavors, to be sold in select stores in the US' Northeast this month. Kraft Heinz envisions a wider rollout next year.
The company previously only dabbled in alcohol, offering a limited-edition white wine infused with its Grey Poupon mustard seeds in 2021, followed by a limited-edition cocktail flavored like its Claussen pickles in 2023, per the Journal. Last year, the company offered new Crystal Light flavors intended for use in cocktails, including watermelon margarita and mai tai. But now, it goes a step further.
"With tens of millions of social media videos showcasing creative ways to mix Crystal Light into cocktails, creating a delicious lower-calorie vodka refresher was a natural step for us," Jeremy Kross, Kraft Heinz's director of beverage mixes, tells Food Dive. At 77 calories, the vodka refreshers will be the lowest-calorie ready-to-drink cocktail on the market, the company says. The "lightly fizzy" zero-sugar cocktails, a collaboration with craft beer producer Barrel One Collective, will also have lower alcohol by volume than many cocktails on the market at 3.8%, per a release. A four-pack will sell for $9.99. (More Kraft Heinz Company stories.)
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