The Bishop Family, founders of SoBe Beverages and the Blue Buffalo line of pet food, made a major investment in ‘Merican Mule, one of the fastest growing Ready to Drink canned cocktail brands.
“While there are many Ready To Drink cocktail products on the market, we were eager to invest in ‘Merican Mule given the brand’s distinct positioning and outperformance of the canned cocktail category’s rapid growth, which per Neilsen has increased over 90% compared to 2019,” said Billy Bishop, a partner in the Bishop family’s Seminole Investment Management group. ”Since the brand’s introduction, they have steadily grown and are now available in 12 states across New England and the Southern U.S. with tremendous growth potential ahead.”
The Bishop Family will also become active advisors to fellow Connecticut native and ‘Merican Mule’s CEO, Dean Mahoney.
“The Bishops have proven their ability to build big businesses from scratch,” said Mahoney. “They helped take SoBe Beverages from an idea to sales of $220 million in just four years, and then built Blue Buffalo from a white paper concept to sales of over $1 billion before selling to General Mills in 2018 for $8 billion. We couldn’t be more proud to welcome the Bishop Family to the ‘Merican Mule family and are eager to see what success will come of this new partnership. ”
David Holmes, who is credited with creating the Hard Seltzer category with SpikedSeltzer (now Bon & Viv) before selling it to AB InBev in 2016, also joins the company as a strategic advisor. He currently serves as partner of Knockback Partners, which invests in beverage companies. “I’ve been impressed with how this brand has executed over the last several years, and am excited that The Bishop family shares my belief that ‘Merican Mule is a winner, ” said Holmes.
‘Merican Mule’s line of five cocktail blends is available at over 2,000 retail locations in 12 states including Total Wine & More, Bevmax, Whole Foods and Target, at a suggested retail price of $12.99 to 14.99 and an ABV of 7%.
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