Anheuser-Busch InBev is ploughing more cash into its production of Cutwater RTDs.
The brewing giant is following capex in New York state and Los Angeles with another project in California.
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AB InBev is spending $1.5m to up capacity at its site in San Diego. The facility, which employs more than 200 people, is the sole production location for Cutwater’s cream-based cocktail range.
The Budweiser brewer said the project would add jobs at the plant but did not disclose how many.
In a statement, AB InBev said the move is part of more than $5m in spending on Cutwater production, including projects in Los Angeles and Baldwinsville in New York state.
Jake Kirsch, the president for the brewer’s Beyond Beer arm, said Cutwater was “the number-one spirits-based cocktail brand in the US”.
Cutwater, founded in San Diego in 2016 and acquired by AB InBev three years later, accounts for about 75% of the dollar-sales growth seen in the category, the company said, citing Circana data.
When AB InBev reported its third-quarter financial results last month, the company said sales of Cutwater had increased “in the high thirties” during the three-month period.
In an earnings call on its first-half results in July, CEO Michel Doukeris said revenue from Cutwater grew at a “triple-digit” rate in the second quarter.
The investment in San Diego will support Cutwater’s cream liqueur products and seasonal launches.
Earlier this month, AB InBev said Brendan Whitworth, the CEO of its business in North America, will leave at the end of November after 13 years with the Bud Light brewer. The company has not yet named his successor.
