With global headlines fuelling Canadian pride (and frustration), f-bombs are dropping all over the place. Canadian mother-and-son team reclaimed the phrase, dropped over a million FBOMBZ in under a year, and created some of Canada’s top-selling ready-to-drink cocktails.
Industry veterans Pat and Ian Macdonald founded FBOMBZ to give Gen Z the ultimate RTD experience: standout cocktail flavours made with high-quality Canadian ingredients, packaged in a portable, stackable, resealable, and 100% recyclable bottle.
Here’s how FBOMBZ have exploded over the past year:
- Hit 1+ Million Bottles Sold in under 12 months
- Ranked #1 New Craft RTD (and #2 RTD overall) at the LCBO
- Won Best Craft Beverage at the Convenience Industry Council of Canada awards for its Cranberry Cosmo Twist
FBOMBZ is rapidly expanding its footprint across Canada. Already available throughout Ontario at major retailers including LCBO, Sobeys, Circle K, and 7-Eleven, the brand has recently launched in Alberta and Saskatchewan, with expansion into B.C., Manitoba, and Nova Scotia already on the horizon. Plus, two exciting new drops —Espresso Martini and Eggnog.
In an interview with Retail Insider, Ian Macdonald discussed the company’s growth.
What was the original idea behind FBOMBZ, and what did you see as missing from Canada’s ready-to-drink cocktail market when you launched the brand?
The idea behind FBOMBZ was that we felt ready-to-drink cocktails needed a catalyst to capture the growing excitement consumers were having in the category. Seltzers have been a growth area since 2020, but we increasingly saw consumers looking for more flavour and more fun. What better way to bring it to them than in a brand that has incredible quality, convenience in its “resealability”, and cheeky name. We initially were going to go call it Fun Bombz…or Flavour Bombz…but when my mom said, “let’s just shorten it.” We knew we had a winner. The F can mean a lot of different things…fun, flavourful, fabulous…maybe more…but we let our fans decide for themselves.
FBOMBZ has sold more than one million bottles in less than 12 months. What do you believe has driven that level of consumer adoption, particularly among Gen Z?
I think it’s a combination of delivering on both the first and second moments of truth. Our name, packaging, unique stacking feature and overall look grab attention. We’re bold, fun and expectation-defying. And for a lot of our Gen Z fans lives, the social and dating scene, economy, etc., is a lot different than it may have been just a decade or two before. Many have expressed that the F means “what the F is going on.” Milestones feel more out of reach now than in previous generations. The F in FBOMBZ understands that and helps connect friends together to have fun in spite of life’s challenges. You may “drop FBOMBZ” but we’re here to turn the mood up together.
The second moment of truth is the product itself: using real juices, real coffee and real cream creates a more elevated recipe and a better experience that people want to come back to time and time again. Our cocktails are not your parents’ 1990s sugar water colour cooler.
How important have major retail partnerships such as LCBO, Sobeys, Circle K and 7-Eleven been to the brand’s growth, and what have you learned about selling RTD beverages through these different channels?
Having key retailers as partners has been immensely important. 7-11 was our first partner, and we are eternally grateful: they took a chance, and together we dared to be the best we possibly could be. They loved the concept but asked if we could make it stack – no small feat of engineering. More than a year of development with many failures, and we finally perfected our unique stacking cavity. It was important to them that FBOMBZ stack for merchandising, but also in case the consumer wanted to stack them in their fridge. The first batch was a little shaky, but we’ve come a long way and appreciate their partnership, open-mindedness, and willingness to test with us and refine.
The LCBO taught us the importance of scaling up and really nailing our higher ABV line. We offer FBOMBZ in a 7% line for Grocery and Convenience and a 15% line for the LCBO who can carry higher abv products. The LCBO was our first retailer when we started and always have appreciated their support in guiding the industry and challenging us to be our very best.
Circle K and Sobeys are very progressive retailers and open to new innovation. They service different occasions and target shoppers and we appreciate the ability to work with both their head offices and stores independently to bring FBOMBZ into more and more communities across Canada. We work with Sobeys in multiple markets: Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan so developing strategies and pricing that meets the need of each province’s liquor board, markups and regulations has been a unique project that has given us a greater understanding of going “coast to coast” in Canada.
You’re expanding into Alberta and Saskatchewan, with B.C., Manitoba and Nova Scotia planned. What are the biggest opportunities and challenges involved in taking a young Canadian beverage brand nationwide?
It’s a great question because each province operates almost like its own country! We need to be licensed each time for each province. Sometimes it’s simple as filling out a form. Other times it involves lawyers, extra-provincial incorporations, lengthy background checks and more. Each province has its own tax, markup and distribution rule set, so trying to figure out the most efficient and reliable way to market can be a challenge. Some provinces offer trade-offs: simplicity but at the cost of no data or insight into who is purchasing your product. I would say our history in beverage alcohol, having been around for 12 years, has prepared us for this moment, but we are learning new things every day: no province is static, and they are all evolving in their own unique ways. Managing the complexity of this and staying current is the challenge.
With Espresso Martini and Eggnog among the upcoming launches, how do you approach developing new flavours while maintaining the brand’s identity and responding to changing consumer tastes?
All of our FBOMBZ cocktails first start by blending what we think our fans will love and are craving….with the pursuit of the highest level of quality. Espresso Martinis are having a moment right now, and early in the Espresso Martini formulation days we tried many different recipes: the one we settled on cost the most. We were able to make it work, but every other recipe just felt like a shortcut and performed below our expectations. If we won’t drink it regularly, how can we expect others to as well?
We also wanted to capture the Christmas season with arguably the most famous holiday cocktail of them all: Eggnog. Most eggnogs are sold in larger vessel sizes or made in 1L+ batches. By making a portable, on-the-go Eggnog product, we felt we could expand the occasions to drink Eggnog. Maybe you love it, but your friends don’t – that’s ok! Now you can get 1-2 bottles for yourself without having to worry about what to do with the extra.
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