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It looks like Moosehead is launching a new product – Moose Light Blackberry!

It should be in stores by June 26th.

This comes after the launch of Moose Light Lime, last year, that soon became one of their top sellers.

The Telegraph-Journal has an article in today’s newspaper with more details on the new brew:

SAINT JOHN – With sales results looking a little flat, Moosehead felt an aggressive move was in order and decided to launch a new summer beer, according to the company’s vice-president of sales and marketing.

‘The biggest test for me is whether I would feel comfortable sitting down and having two or three – and I could see that,’ says Andrew Oland, Moosehead Breweries Ltd. president, of the new beer, adding, ‘It’s not overpowering.’

Jim Eagles, along with a small team, recently met with Moosehead Breweries Ltd. president Andrew Oland in a basement boardroom at Moosehead’s Saint John office. The Telegraph-Journal sat in as they settled on plans for packaging and did a final taste-test of the new flavoured light beer the company plans to have in stores by June 26.

After sampling the product – Moose Light Blackberry – Oland nodded his approval.

“The biggest test for me is whether I would feel comfortable sitting down and having two or three – and I could see that,” he said, adding, “It’s not overpowering.”

The brewery is working to launch the product in about five to six weeks instead of the usual six to 12 months. Eagles said they came up with the idea when they noticed lower sales numbers, which they review daily.

“The short-term results had us feeling that we needed to do more,” Eagles said. “We had a great success with Moose Light Lime last year and were able to capture the imagination of New Brunswick consumers.”

He estimated Moosehead will spend about $225,000 on this product launch and said the cost of packaging design and printing alone will be about $35,000 to $50,000.

The company plans to produce 90,000 cases of a dozen bottles each and the brand is slated to be available from the end of June to the end of September.

Eagles said Moosehead’s new brand is targeted at women and “experiential” drinkers – those who purchase different products for different occasions such as a summer barbeque versus a hockey game. The company hopes to draw such customers away from the wine and cooler business. In part, this is because the beer landscape is relatively stable.

Beer sales in New Brunswick make up the majority of alcohol sales in the province. According to NB Liquor, in 2009 beer accounted for about 56 per cent of total sales of $394.8 million. But the market is not expanding significantly. Total beer sales grew just 15 per cent from 2005 to 2009 (from $193.4 million to $222 million).

In contrast, wine sales in New Brunswick increased by 42 per cent from 2005 to 2009 (from $43.3 million to $61.3 million).

John Pliniussen, associate professor of sales and marketing at Queen’s University, said in a phone interview that Moosehead’s strategy of trying to woo female drinkers and those looking for a novel product makes sense. He cautioned that women are not heavy consumers of beer but said it’s still an important market segment.

Pliniussen also noted the seasonal nature of beer sales and said the success of the launch will depend on Moosehead getting the product in consumers’ hands quickly.

“Right now the weather is warm, the good time of summer is officially here. It’s time to dial it up and see what the new brand does,” he said.

Kenneth Wong, associate professor of marketing at Queen’s, also believes timing is key.

“You always tend to promote products and introduce products during your heaviest consumption period,” he said in a phone interview.

Moosehead is well aware of the importance of the summer months, according to Eagles, who said the company relies on its small size to take advantage of factors like increased demand when the weather is nice.

“If you can be fleet of foot, agile and capitalize on an opportunity quickly, then that’s good. It’s a very important part of what we do,” he said.