Corona is introducing a new alcohol-free beer blended with Vitamin D called “Sunbrew,” as it seeks to underline its credentials as a brand “born on the beach" and capitalize on the burgeoning non-alcoholic drinks market.

The brew, which makes its timely debut as consumers grapple with the quandary of how to cut down on alcohol in "Dry January" and fight the midwinter blues at the same time, has been almost three years in the making by the Anheuser-Busch InBev brand. Sunbrew is the first ever non-alcoholic beer to contain Vitamin D, according to Corona Global VP Felipe Ambra, with 30% of the daily value of Vitamin D per 330 ml serving in Canada, the first market where it will be introduced. 

The launch comes as the brand aims to carve out a distinctive proposition in the world of non-alcoholic beer. Its existing alcohol-free beer, Corona Zero, has only been available in Mexico thus far, although there are plans to launch it in Europe early next year.

The idea for Sunbrew came from agency David Miami, which came to Corona with the proposition after working with the brand in China. It will be launched with the tagline of “Sunshine, Anytime” and backed by a TV ad by the agency, helmed by top director Juan Cabral, known for iconic commercials such as Cadbury's "Gorilla" and Sony Bravia's "Balls."

Shot in stop motion on a beach in Costa Rica and aiming to show the sun’s effect on nature, shadows and sand over the course of a day, the commercial will form one part of a global integrated marketing campaign around the launch. The launch will also include out-of-home and short form content such as GIFs based around the sundial shown in the last frame of the ad.

“Corona is a very emotional brand so we wanted to bring that to the product, and it came up as a really strong way to differentiate ourselves," Ambra said in an interview with Ad Age. "It’s way beyond saying it’s the beer that you love, alcohol-free. It is that, but we are not anchoring our strategy on that—it’s that feeling of the beach and getting connected to nature any time.”

Sunbrew is the the latest in a series of marketing innovations from Corona. Its initiatives in the past year have included developing an eco-friendly six pack holder made from barley straw, opening the U.K.’s first "100% natural bar" on  U.K. beach and developing its own branded private island with an emphasis on eco tourism. Ambra said that Sunbrew will be served on Corona Island, which is expected to open to visitors early this year, “for sure.”   

Sunbrew was developed by extracting the alcohol from Corona Extra and then blending the non-alcoholic beer with Vitamin D and natural flavors to reach the final recipe.

Ambra said the technical team had faced several challenges—not least because Vitamin D is both hard to dissolve in water, and very sensitive to oxygen and to light, and Corona traditionally comes in a transparent bottle. Despite these hurdles, the team found a way to stick with the transparent bottles (the bottles will initially have a six-month shelf life, whereas the majority of Corona bottles have a 12-month life, although Corona will continue to test it in terms of ageing.)

According to Ambra, Corona decided to launch Sunbrew first in Canada both because its center of excellence for technical innovation is based there, and because of the severity of the Canadian winter and lack of sunlight. Later in 2022, it plans to roll the brew out in other markets including the U.K., Europe, South America and Asia, although dates are dependent on regulations over vitamin content in these markets.