Beo*: Carlsberg's Alt Malt Beverage

Carlsberg’s new drink, Beo*, is billed as "Hard to explain. Easy to enjoy" — a description that might make other marketers think "Beo" should rhyme with "Uh-oh."

Derive from the Latin for "to make happy or delight," Beo* is the brewer's new non-alcoholic drink aimed at "discerning adults."

“We've identified a number of situations where consumers prefer an alternative that doesn't contain alcohol. Perhaps a lunch date or a meeting with friends at a café during the week. And, of course, Carlsberg wants to give them the choice," says Lene Dyrby Andersen, International Innovation Platform Director at Carlsberg in a release.

Carlsberg is actively courting consumers looking for healthier drinks, particularly women, who Carlsberg is wooing with its upmarket Copenhagen brand of beer.

The theme for Beo* is "natural." Sans alcohol, is a "naturally brewed" beverage with no artificial additives. It's naturally sweetened with malt and 35% fruit juices; "we haven't added any sugar, and only natural ingredients have found their way into the bottle. Even the bubbles in Beo are natural as they're a result of the brewing process," adds Andersen.

Its two initial flavors, Apple-Green Tea and Blood Orange-Hibiscus, are now on shelves in Denmark and Sweden with broader distribution in the works.

Carlsberg's UK tagline, "Probably the best beer in the world" was created in 1973 by Saatchi and Saatchi with the voiceover for the original by Orson Welles. An equally famous slogan followed, "worth waiting for."

After 150 years in the business of brewing beer, Carlsberg’s extension into alternative non-alcoholic beverage brands is banking on Beo* as "probably the best non-beer, still worth the wait."