Stateside is launching a sports-drink-style canned cocktail
Super Lyte will debut on the Phillies’ Opening Day at Citizens Bank Park, where in recent seasons its older sibling, Surfside iced-tea lemonade, has been the stadium’s best-selling spirit.
After finding major success with its Surfside canned cocktails, Stateside Vodka is at it again.
The Philly company’s latest invention is not another spiked iced-tea lemonade but rather a spiked sports-drink-style beverage.
Called Super Lyte, the new ready-to-drink cocktail is set to be released in liquor stores, bars, restaurants, and other venues this spring, Stateside Vodka announced Tuesday.
On the Phillies’ Opening Day on March 26, Super Lyte will debut at Citizens Bank Park, where in recent seasons its older sibling Surfside has been the stadium’s best-selling spirit, despite a high price tag. It was $26 for a 24-oz. can last year.
Nationwide, Surfside sold more than 11 million cases last year, up from less than 5 million in 2024, according to the company. In July, Forbes called Surfside “the fastest-growing alcohol brand in America,” reporting that it was on track to bring in as much as $300 million in annual revenue.
“Building on our success with Surfside, we are thrilled to introduce Super Lyte and lead the way for growth in this emerging segment within beverage alcohol,” Stateside Brands CEO Clement Pappas said in a statement.
“We are hearing very similar comments about Super Lyte that we experienced when we initially launched Surfside,” he added, “and this has created a lot of excitement.”
Like Surfsides, Super Lytes will have a relatively low alcohol content, at 4.5% ABV, similar to a light beer but with no carbonation. Each 12-oz. Super Lyte can will have 90 calories and zero grams of sugar, compared to Surfside’s 100 calories and two grams of sugar.
» READ MORE: How Surfside crushed the canned cocktail market
Super Lyte will be available in four flavors: fruit punch, orange, lemon-lime, and blue chill. Stateside recommends retailers charge $19.99 for a variety 8-pack.
Company executives said in a news release that Super Lyte is “positioned to be a staple for Gen Z and millennial consumers looking for an easy to drink RTD [ready-to-drink cocktail] that fits their active lifestyle.”
These consumers, age 45 and younger, have helped fuel the meteoric rise of canned cocktails, sales of which surged last year even as overall spirit sales declined. The ready-to-drink category has more than doubled its market share since 2021, according to CNBC.
This success comes despite the U.S. drinking rate hitting a 90-year low, with only 54% of adults saying they drank alcohol last year, per a Gallup poll. Those who said they did drink reported drinking less than in previous years. Some expressed increased health concerns as recent research has highlighted the risks of even moderate drinking.
In 2024, Stateside president Matt Quigley said brands like Surfside operated in “the low-calorie, better-for-you” space. That’s been resonating with its consumer base, which skews slightly more female and is generally younger, between the ages of 25 and 40, cofounders Quigley and Pappas said in 2024.
Two sets of brothers — Matt and Bryan Quigley, Fort Washington natives, and Clement and Zach Pappas, originally of Vineland — founded Stateside Vodka in a distillery near Kensington in 2015.
Over the past decade, the company has become a national name. It distributes Surfside in all 50 states and a few international territories, and Super Lyte is set to be released in more than 20 states across the East Coast and Midwest.
At the same time, Stateside has kept ties in the region.
The company recently bought the naming rights to the South Philly stadium district’s bar complex, formerly called Xfinity Live! As of this fall, the center is called Stateside Live! The financial terms of the deal were not publicly disclosed.
Stateside plans to move its corporate headquarters to Center City after a temporary stint in Feasterville-Trevose, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal, which reported that nearly half of Stateside’s 260 employees are based in the Philly area.
The company operates a production facility in Northeast Philadelphia, and uses a Bristol packing company to sort its variety packs. Stateside’s tasting room on the 1700 block of North Hancock Street also remains open.