Abita marks 40 years with vodka cocktails and new ventures

The big picture: The craft beer market continued to shrink last year, writes Axios Denver's John Frank.

• The persistent downward trend is pressuring the once-booming industry to rethink its business models and expand into non-beer beverages.

Case in point: Abita launched Upbeat Vodka Cocktails earlier this year, a line of ready-to-drink canned cocktails with multiple flavors.

• Abita blends the vodka with its signature artesian water and then cans the cocktails.
• The company tried a rum cocktail several years ago, but the line wasn't successful, says Heidi Guerra, Abita's vice president of marketing. She suspects branding and packaging were to blame.
• Abita maintains a diverse beverage portfolio, she says, with beer, soda and canned cocktails.
• The mix is roughly 85% alcoholic and 15% nonalcoholic, she says.

The intrigue: Abita has always experimented, Guerra says.

• The brewery made a name for itself in the 1990s by putting fruit in beer (Purple Haze) before other brands were doing that widely, she says.
• Abita uses its taproom customers in Abita Springs and New Orleans as focus groups, she says.
• The brand has tested nonalcoholic beer and could introduce it at its taprooms, Guerra teased.

Zoom out: Abita is also building a business with contract manufacturing.

• Other companies pay Abita to use its production facilities to bring their brands to life.
• For example, an entrepreneur with an idea for an energy drink could pay Abita to brew and package it without investing in equipment.
• She declined to say what brands Abita works with.

The bottom line: "We're Louisiana true," Guerra says. "We use Louisiana ingredients, and that's one thing we don't want to lose sight of."