It’s the beverage that inspired a new wave of RTDs and launched a thousand memes — now White Claw is officially coming to New Zealand.

First introduced in the United States in 2016, the hard seltzer brand has seen huge growth overseas, and will land in Aotearoa later in April to take on locally-made RTDs like Pals.

The alcoholic sparkling water drinks hit an all-time popularity high in the US during the summer of 2019, dubbed the “Summer of the White Claw” — though they’re arriving in NZ just in time for winter.

White Claw is "equally beloved by men and women".

The drink’s rising popularity has been documented on social media over the past few years, with at least part of the appeal down to its gender-neutral marketing. Writing for the Washington Post in 2019, Emily Heil notes: “Unlike so many of its boozy predecessors, the Claw is equally beloved by men and women.

“For decades, our televisions told us that men drank beer, women drank wine, and that’s just the way the world was.”

She goes on to point out that at the time, studies showed a 50-50 split in the gender of White Claw consumers, adding: “Women love it. Even frat boys and the bro-iest of men love it”.

US comedian Trevor Wallace famously coined the catchphrase: “Ain’t no laws when you’re drinking Claws”, which has been viewed millions of times on social media to date.

In NZ, the demographic of consumers drinking RTDs is similar — both men and women in the Gen Z and millennial age groups.

White Claw will join the ranks of Smirnoff Ice, Vodka Cruisers, Pals and Long Whites on shelves, as well as Japan’s most popular RTD Kirin Hyoketsu, which arrived in NZ last summer.

Perhaps the most well-known of these is Pals, which began as a one-man startup and is now the 8th most popular brand in this category in NZ. It was created to meet the demand for sugar-free, “healthier” drinks and has largely been marketed through social media aimed at Gen Zs, aided by media personalities Jay and Anna Reeve.

DB Breweries senior marketing manager Cormac van den Hoofdakker says: “We have underestimated the excitement and speculation the arrival of White Claw would cause amongst New Zealanders”.

Pals owners Jay and Anna Reeve, Nick Marshall and Mat Croad.

It’s the latest arrival on the ready-to-drink beverage scene in NZ, which is already home to countless drinks in this category. In fact, Kiwis are among the biggest consumers of RTDs in the world - the typically colourful cans are a ubiquitous part of festivals, barbecues and university life.

While RTDs continue to grow in popularity, Alcohol Healthwatch executive director Andrew Galloway wants to remind Kiwis that there are no health benefits to drinking alcohol.

He told Newshub: “New Zealanders need no further encouragement to consume alcohol in a harmful way. Around one in every six NZ adults has a hazardous drinking pattern that places them or others at risk of harm.

“It does create some concern that it will add fuel to the fire of an already problematic drinking culture in NZ.”

With a pop-up store selling limited amounts of White Claw set to open this weekend, the drinks will land on shelves later this month.