Last month, Anheuser-Busch announced that it had spun off its non-alcoholic beverage business into a newly formed subsidiary called 9th Street Beverages—a development no doubt buoyed by this year’s 77% jump in sales of its non-alcoholic beverage brands such as 180 Energy, Borba Skin Balance Water, Icelandic Glacial and Monster.

Named to reflect a locale near the company’s St. Louis brewery, 9th Street Beverages was created in response to “demand from wholesale beer distributors, who are increasingly offering non-alcoholic drinks to their customers,” David English, vice president and general manager, 9th Street Beverages, told the Associated Press.

“The formation of 9th Street Beverages allows us to establish a clear separation between the beer business and the non-alcohol business,” said Mr. English in an interview with Nutraceuticals World. “We will have a formal leadership structure for non-alcohol decision-making as well as a group of highly skilled sales and marketing personnel focused solely on marketing and expanding distribution of our non alcohol products.”

Mr. English explained that there are many traditional and some not-so-traditional venues this subsidiary seeks to reach. “We have a lot of growth opportunities with 9th Street Beverages,” he said. “Our focus will be not only on the traditional alcohol-licensed retail channels but on reaching new adult consumers in areas where alcohol products may not typically have a presence—travel and transportation venues, ‘at-work retail’ and specialty accounts such as spas, gyms and health stores.”

9th Street’s current beverage lineup runs the gamut from energy beverages to nutraceutical-enhanced drinks. “We entered the non-alcohol category in 2001 with our 180 Orange-Citrus Energy Drink and have expanded over the last few years by introducing 180 Red with Goji, 180 Blue with Acai, 180 Sugar-Free Orange Citrus and 180 Blue Low-Calorie,” commented Mr. English. “We have distribution agreements with BORBA Skin Balance Water, Icelandic Glacial and Monster, the number two best-selling energy brand.”

The company’s popular 180 Energy drinks are formulated to taste more like a carbonated beverage and less like an energy drink. Each of the five flavor varieties contains guarana, vitamin B6, B12 and C.
The agreement to distribute BORBA Skin Balance Waters was inked late last summer, affording 9th Street the distribution rights in the U.S. and globally (with the exception of Japan, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia and Dubai.) The beverages promote “healthy skin from within” with four formulations that address four basic skin needs: Age Defying (with acai, flaxseed, noni berry, four essential B vitamins and vitamins C and E for aging skin and wrinkles), Clarifying (with pomegranate, goji berry, cranberry, four B vitamins and vitamins C and E for oily skin), Firming (with guanabana fruit, green tea, grape seed extract, four B vitamins and vitamins C and E for elasticity, firmness and smoothness) and Replenishing (with lychee fruit, papaya, guava, four B vitamins and vitamins C and E for dry skin). The waters are calorie free, aspartame free, have no preservatives, zero carbs, zero sodium and are flavored naturally.

BORBA markets its Skin Balance Waters in a ready-to-drink format and in dry powder, Aqua-Less Crystalline packets, which are mixed with 16 oz of water prior to consumption.
As for the types of beverages the company will market in the future, Mr. English said the company plans to develop new product concepts from within as well as partner with and/or acquire brands as they fit with the company’s focus. “In addition to growing our current brands, we plan to expand the portfolio to include additional partnerships with other non-alcohol companies and developing new brands in-house,” he said. “The new subsidiary is also working on several exciting specialty product concepts though details on these new products won’t be immediately disclosed for competitive reasons.”