“Crossover” Alcohol Products at Retail Liquor Stores

A “crossover” product is the alcoholic version of a traditionally non-alcoholic product. Soft drink and juice producers along with alcohol suppliers have introduced many of these products within the last year.

While these products are gaining in popularity, there is concern that the crossover products may potentially be confused with their non-alcohol beverage counterparts. Crossover brand products often retain many of the same branding elements and consumer recognition as their non-alcoholic beverage counterparts.

Keep Customers Informed

In order to avoid any consumer confusion, retailers are encouraged to take measures to ensure that crossover products are merchandised in a manner that makes it clear that they contain alcohol.

Retailers can do this by:

• Separating products containing alcohol from those without alcohol.
• Do not display or promote crossover brand products in a manner that could create confusion with their non-alcohol beverage counterparts.
• Use signage easily visible to the consumer to identify products that contain alcohol.
• Keep all alcohol products in a separate section that is away from child-friendly items (such as candy and toys). Do not use endcaps located at the end of aisles with kid-friendly items.
• If using endcaps, do not include non-alcohol products in this area, and use signage easily visible to the consumer to indicate the products contain alcohol.
• Keep mini-bottles (airplane size) either behind a counter or in locked cabinets to prevent theft. Do not place them loosely in bins or baskets near check-out stands and exits.
• Keep alcohol products away from areas with easy-to-access exits — especially products that can be concealed and stolen.
• If feasible, apply security monitors to alcohol products that alert when products leave the store without being purchased.
• If possible, program crossover brand product barcodes to indicate that they contain alcohol when they are scanned at checkout so that the retail outlet employee confirms that the customer is of legal drinking age.

Retail employees are encouraged to get training to differentiate crossover brand products and packaging from their nonalcoholic counterparts.

Preventing Youth Access

Social media has shown us that when at a self-checkout aisle, a person under 21 has two canned products: one crossover product, and one non-alcohol beverage counterpart. The underage person scans the non-alcohol version twice, pays for their products, and leaves the store. It appears to be a compliant sale however, the person under 21 has now left the store with an alcoholic product.

Preventing underage use and adult misuse of alcohol is a primary objective of our mission. There are known dangers of underage drinking, including the impact on the developing brain and the increased risk of poor decision-making, injury, and even death. Product confusion can also create increased risk when consumers are not aware a product contains alcohol.