Leftovers: Truly heats up hard seltzer | Cannabis producer launches a blazing wing sauce

Leftovers is our look at a few of the product ideas popping up everywhere. Some are intriguing, some sound amazing and some are the kinds of ideas we would never dream of. We can’t write about everything that we get pitched, so here are some leftovers pulled from our inboxes.

Hard seltzer sales Truly heating up

The hard seltzer category is finally starting to sizzle again.

With Americans getting ready for the Super Bowl in just over a week, hard seltzer is tapping into one of the most popular snacks among football fans: chicken wings.

Boston Beer’s Truly is launching the first-ever Hot Wing Sauce Hard Seltzer that promises to bring “a zesty kick” to the alcohol offering. The product will be available for a limited time in select markets.

“We’re all about keeping it light, so we’re bringing drinkers everything they need to accompany the cheers, jeers, and tears of game day in one convenient package with Truly Hot Wing Sauce Hard Seltzer,” Matt Withington, Truly Hard Seltzer’s senior director of marketing, said in a statement. “We’ve kicked things up a notch with this flavor exploration.”

After years of triple-digit growth, hard seltzer has seen sales slow considerably as consumers turn to other alcoholic drinks, or eliminate booze altogether. Few companies have been hit as hard as Boston Beer, which was among the biggest beneficiaries of the hard seltzer trend.

During Boston Beer’s third-quarter earnings, Jim Koch, the company’s founder, noted “continued declines in Truly Hard Seltzer” with dollar sales declining 26% and its share of the category declining. It vowed to continue investing in the eight-year-old brand.

Hot Wing Sauce fits squarely into that innovation plan. It also helps Boston Beer target consumers, especially younger ones, with new and novel tastes they covet. 

At the same time, Truly is gravitating toward one of the more popular flavors around this time of the year.

The National Chicken Council estimated Americans will consume 1.45 billion chicken wings during the Super Bowl this year.

— Christopher Doering

A new way to enjoy blazed wings this Super Bowl

People in the Chicago area will have a new way to enjoy wing sauce ahead of the big game this year — and perhaps use it to calm down a little if their team loses.

Cresco Labs is teaming up with The Fifty/50, a Chicago sports bar, to spice up Super Bowl parties with a hot wing sauce infused with cannabis.

Each container of the buffalo wing sauce has 100mg of THC and can be used for dipping about 24 wings. Cresco recommended that consumers “start low and go slow” when consuming wings with the sauce.

“Our Good News brand is all about offering products to be part of life’s greatest moments,” Dana Mason, Cresco’s vice president of marketing, said in the press release. “This fun collaboration creates an opportunity for fans to enjoy and elevate their experiences together.”

The sauce will be available at select cannabis dispensaries in the Chicago area.

Cresco claims the product is the first hot sauce to include THC. Still, other cannabis-infused offerings are expected to receive a boost ahead of football’s biggest night. In the week before Super Bowl Sunday last year, the cannabis industry saw a 13% sales jump, according to BDS Analytics data cited in the press release.

While the FDA’s decision not to regulate cannabis in food and beverage has created challenges for companies hoping to sell products with marijuana nationally, many producers have doubled down in states where they can sell it.

Jones Soda’s Mary Jones brand — which sells THC-infused sodas and gummies — is expanding its portfolio with new launches this year, including Fizzy Tab, a hard candy product. And New York City chain Magnolia Bakery also has started experimenting with THC-infused chocolate bars.

— Chris Casey

Ice cream for breakfast anyone?

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams — founded by James Beard Award winner Jeni Britton — makes its homemade desserts with a buttercream finish. Now, the frozen treat is bringing its expertise to a different time of the day: breakfast. 

In celebration of National Ice Cream for Breakfast Day on Saturday, Jeni’s is launching a banana french toast flavor featuring banana custard, maple syrup and cinnamon french toast gravel. 

The new flavor will be available for purchase online and at Jeni’s retail locations.

“We strongly believe ice cream should be enjoyed before noon, and have taken this small family tradition and swept the nation,” the company said in a statement.