There are hundreds of hard seltzer brands out there. But how many of them are made for Latinos?
That's a question the founders of Casalú asked years ago as students at North Carolina State University.
Gabriel González, Ricardo Sucre and Gustavo Darquea met about a decade ago after they all traveled from South America to attend college in the United States. As students will do, they spent a lot of time socializing with their peers – sometimes over a beer or two.
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The problem? Sucre didn't like to drink beer. Hard seltzer brands like High Noon weren't his thing, either.
"That begged the question: Why wasn't there something like that made with rum? That's the liquor of choice in Latin America and the Caribbean," co-founder Gonzalez said. "And why wasn't there a brand for Latinos?"
After all, people who identify as Hispanic or Latino make up nearly 20% of the U.S. population. That share is even higher among Gen Z. About 25% of Americans between the ages 12 and 27 are Hispanic – and the older members of the generation are huge hard seltzer consumers, market research data shows.
"Latinos are the largest minority group in the country, but we didn't have a brand representing that culture in the liquor space," Gonzalez said.
That sparked the creation of Casalú. Sucre began making a rum-based seltzer at his home in 2020 and then shared it with Gonzalez and Darquea. The latter had a family member in the beverage industry, who encouraged them to pursue the idea. They decided to apply for a startup accelerator at North Carolina State University and turn the idea into a real business.
"Everyone else had customers, and we were there talking about branding and Latino culture," Gonzalez said about the accelerator, a program that provided Casalú with $5,000 in funding.
In 2022, the co-founders moved to Miami and lived and worked out of an Airbnb in the Design District neighborhood. They bought a keg on Amazon, filled it with their hard seltzer and began to crash parties, introducing Casalú to potential future customers. Eventually, event promoters started to reach out to them on Instagram.
Then, the investors came. Casalú raised a $1.3 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Thomas Reeg, CEO of Caesars Entertainment, a hotel and casino company based in Nevada. So far, it has secured about $3 million from investors since its launch.
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Casalú had another win when it snagged a deal with retailer TotalWine. Now, its beverages can be found in every TotalWine location in Florida, as well as at Milam's Market and GoPuff, a beverage delivery app. Gonzalez said the company is now "laser-focused" on getting its products into Publix, the state's largest supermarket chain.
There's still challenges ahead. Making and canning beverages is a capital intensive business with a lot of overhead. And there are plenty of hard seltzer competitors out there marketing to the same Gen Z demographic.
That's why leaning into Casalú's connection with Latino culture – through social media, merchandising and community groups on WhatsApp, the most popular messaging app in Latin America – is essential for building the brand.
“We’re competing against multibillion companies that can outspend us everywhere. So how do we cut through clutter?" Gonzalez said. "The answer seems to be authenticity."
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