Deep Eddy’s Ascent, Part 1: Flavors Fuel Upswing For Texas Vodka

Austin, Texas-based Impact “Hot Brand” Deep Eddy vodka has defied the odds in an ultra-competitive U.S. vodka category recently, achieving nearly 130% growth in 2014 to 330,000 cases, according to Impact Databank. Now available in all 50 states, the company says it’s eyeing another year of triple-digit volume growth in 2015 as it pursues its goal of hitting 1 million cases by 2017.

Deep Eddy tells SND it’s projecting its namesake vodka ($19.99 a 750-ml.) to reach 600,000–700,000 cases by the end of this year, led by its line of traditional flavors. In January, a Lemon flavor joined a Deep Eddy line that already included Straight Vodka, Sweet Tea, Cranberry and the especially buoyant Ruby Red, a grapefruit-flavored offering. “We have about 70% share of the entire grapefruit-flavored vodka segment in less than two years on the market,” Deep Eddy co-founder Clayton Christopher says. “We’re number-one in cranberry and that’s only been out for about a year. Lemon’s been out a few months and we’ve already achieved 75% of our full-year goal. We’re expecting Lemon to break through 100,000 cases in its first year.”

Christopher founded Deep Eddy in 2010 with fellow Austin entrepreneur Chad Auler after identifying the potential for flavored vodkas made with all-natural ingredients. That year, Deep Eddy debuted its Sweet Tea Vodka, made with real tea leaves and local honey. Within 14 months of its unveiling in Texas, the vodka jumped to the number-one spot among tea-flavored vodkas in the state. That success led the company to explore more simple flavor profiles.

Meanwhile, Deep Eddy’s unflavored 80-proof vodka leads its business in seven markets, such as Florida—the brand’s second-largest market after Texas—where the straight offering currently contributes more than half of the total brand’s volume, with the flavor portfolio also advancing quickly.

While Texas and Florida are leading the way, Deep Eddy is also making its presence felt in other parts of the country. Massachusetts, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland and Arizona all count among its top markets.

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Tagged : craft spirits, Deep Eddy, spirits, vodka

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