Would You Trust 7-Eleven To Make Your Beer?

Would You Trust 7-Eleven To Make Your Beer?

This month, the ever-metastasizing convenience-store chain 7-Eleven will roll out an in-house beer called “Game Day.” This is actually the second time that 7-Eleven has tried to market a beer to go along with its sausage-shaped foodstuffs — in 2003, 7-Eleven tried to launch the Corona-”inspired” beer Santiago de Oro. But it flopped. So what’s different now?

Oh right. Everybody’s broke! So the key words here are “premium beer” and “below-premium price.” (“Premium sales were off 0.7 percent in the past year, while below-premium sales increased 7.3 percent, according to Nielsen.” Which is important to The Sev, as it depends on beer for a great portion of its business!)

When 7-Eleven introduced Santiago de Oro imported beer in 2003, the economic times were much different. We went up against a name brand that was merchandised for the exotic vacation-in-a-bottle experience, and consumers were attracted to that. They were buying up, and not as concerned with price. Those were different times and consumers had different needs. In 2003, a customer had $20 in his pocket, and gas was about $1.50 a gallon. Today, he might have $10 in his pocket and gas is $3 a gallon. Many more consumers are looking for ways to save money — including the beer they drink. We discontinued offering the Santiago beer in 2004.

12-packs will cost between $6.99 and $8.99, and 24-ounce single-serving cans will run between $1.49 and $1.89, which certainly satisfies the “below-premium price” part of the bargain. Whether or not the beer itself is any good, well… perhaps it’s designed to be paired with/have any of its lingering taste overrun by the nachos?