Autour du vin

Beam Inc.’s low-calorie Skinnygirl cocktail brand—which reached 586,000 cases on growth of nearly 300% last year—unveiled a line of wines earlier this month.Now Skinnygirl will be extended with a line of vodkas, as well as two new cocktails, Piña Colada and White Peach Margarita.

“We’re going big on innovation this year,” says senior brand manager Melanie Hellenga. “From one cocktail—the Margarita—when we acquired the brand last March, we’ll have 12 Skinnygirl products in-market by the end of this April.”

The Skinnygirl vodkas, which contain 60 calories per 1.5-ounce serving, will include non-flavored Bare Naked, as well as flavored vodkas Island Coconut, Tangerine and Cucumber, all retailing for $20 to $22 a bottle. “That puts us slightly below Ketel One, and about where Absolut played before it began dropping price,” Hellenga says.

The Skinnygirl cocktails, wines and vodkas usually will be merchandised in their respective categories, but some retailers, such as Safeway, have introduced low-calorie sections where they can be sold all together as a brand. Beam is also in talks with some key national on-premise accounts regarding Skinnygirl placements, says Steven Fechheimer, vice president, Skinnygirl global strategy.