Fortune Brands buys Skinnygirl RTD brand
Wimmin, stop popping Prozac. There’s an alternative: it isn’t fattening, not even addictive and doesn’t require a prescription. Mother’s little helper is called Skinnygirl, a ready-to-drink (RTD) Margarita cocktail, which sells at a store near you.
In the U.S., RTDs seem to be back in fashion. Especially if they promise the full flavour of a cocktail without putting all those calories on your hips. That makes Skinnygirl particularly appealing to American women, who constantly worry about their looks – if their TV shows are to be believed.
That’s why Fortune Brands, which makes Jim Beam, must be glad they managed to buy the Skinnygirl cocktail brand, created by reality TV star Bethenny Frankel, at the end of March 2011. No terms were disclosed.
Skinnygirl, which was launched in 2009 by Bethenny Frankel, 40, and David Kanbar (whose uncle created Skyy vodka), is currently distributed mainly in New York, New Jersey and Florida. Annual shipments exceed 100,000 nine-litre cases, it was reported.
Since its launch Skinnygirl Margarita has become one of the largest RTD cocktail brands in the U.S. The product, sold in liquor or mass-market stores, is priced between USD 14 and USD 15 per 750-ml bottle and already ranks fourth in sales of RTD cocktails in food, drug and liquor stores.
Skinnygirl Margarita has 100 calories per serving, lower than typical margarita-style drinks, said to contain 500 calories. Ms. Frankel claims her margarita has only natural ingredients, with no preservatives or artificial colours. It is lightly sweetened with agave nectar.
Ms Frankel, who embodies the skinnygirl ideal, being tall and thin, will stay on as a consultant, developer and marketer. She is a natural foods chef who appeared on "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" and "The Real Housewives of New York City" before getting her own series called "Bethenny Ever After," on Bravo.
What appealed to Fortune Brands was that the Skinnygirl brand can help the company attract more female consumers. One of the next cocktails under the Skinnygirl brand will be a white sangria, it was reported.
A white sangria? Doesn’t that run counter to the concept? Ah, women. Aren’t they so confusing ...
