New Century Brewing: Moonshot Caffeinated Beer

New Century Brewing: Moonshot Caffeinated Beer discusses the introduction of a completely new beverage to the U.S. market. New Century Brewing, which is owned by one of the founders of Boston Beer Company, is a small brewer that outsources production to third party brewers. It has two products, a light craft beer sold in upscale shops and restaurants, and a caffeinated beer, which is oriented towards younger drinkers mainly between 21 and 25 years of age. Moonshot, created by the legendary masterbrewer, known as the "father of light beer," became the first caffeinated beer in the world. The company follows a differentiation strategy that attempts to appeal to a small niche of customers traditionally ignored by large brewers. Shortly after the introduction of each of its products, large competitors introduced similar products. Nevertheless, Moonshot has a first-to-market advantage that could potentially be leveraged.