The founders of Blue Buffalo and SoBe Beverages, the Bishop Family, have made a major investment in ‘Merican Mule, one of the fastest growing Ready to Drink canned cocktail brands. Founded in 2015 by Dean Mahoney and two partners, the California-based brand creates RTD Moscow Mules using premium distilled spirits, proprietary ginger beer, and all-natural ingredients.
“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 US with tremendous growth potential ahead.”
In addition to their role as investors for the premium Moscow Mule brand, 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, also joins the company as a strategic advisor. An industry veteran, he is credited with creating the Hard Seltzer category with SpikedSeltzer (now Bon & Viv) before selling it to AB InBev in 2016. 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.
Brian Murphy, who runs the Massachusetts Beverage Alliance in partnership with the network of Miller-Coors wholesalers in Massachusetts, has been distributing ‘Merican Mule since 2018. “’Merican Mule has been an incredibly complementary fit to our collective beer portfolios. The team has done an outstanding job marketing the brand, and as a result, sales have skyrocketed. They’ve shown us the light into the premium canned cocktail category.”
‘Merican Mule’s line of five cocktail blends is available at over 2,000 retail locations, including Total Wine & More, Bevmax, Whole Foods and Target, and is priced between $12.99 to 14.99 and has an ABV of 7%. In addition to the 12 states where it’s sold at retail, ‘Merican Mule is available online through Drizly.com and on the company’s official website.
