Big Sipz, the wine-based ready-to-drink brand under Patco Brands, has added a blue raspberry variant called Blast Off Blue to its convenience-store lineup, completing a near-space balloon stunt with partner Filmed in Space to anchor the launch campaign. The SKU is now on shelves at major c-store chains across 48 states, the brand confirmed.

The Product & Distribution

Blast Off Blue carries a 16% ABV — a high-strength positioning that Patco Brands says distinguishes it within the crowded wine-based RTD segment. The flavor profile targets sweet-tart consumers with a blue raspberry formulation designed for impulse purchase at convenience retail. Current confirmed distribution states include California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Oregon, among others. No pricing or suggested retail figures were disclosed.

The Marketing Play

Rather than a conventional trade or sampling campaign, Patco Brands elected a high-visibility earned-media approach: a cup of Blast Off Blue was physically sent to the edge of the stratosphere via Filmed in Space, a near-space flight operator, generating video content intended for social amplification. Creator duo Cole Steiner and Cenzo Hayes — co-founders of apparel brand Dirtbag Clothing, with a claimed record-breaking live-stream sales history — were enlisted to build countdown hype around the flight, lending the campaign a creator-economy angle increasingly favored by emerging RTD brands targeting Gen Z and millennial convenience shoppers.

"Sending the product to the edge of space wasn't just about making noise around a new flavor," said Joey Parris, Chief Marketing Officer at Patco Brands. "This was about creating a moment people would want to engage with and remember."

Category Context

The wine-based RTD category has grown sharply over the past several years, driven by consumers trading up from malt-based seltzers and seeking higher-ABV single-serve formats suited to convenience and on-the-go occasions. At 16% ABV, Blast Off Blue occupies the upper end of the permissible range for wine-derived beverages sold in convenience channels, a positioning that also limits distribution in certain control states — which may partly explain the 48-state, rather than full 50-state, footprint. Patco Brands did not specify which two states are excluded or provide a timeline for full national coverage. The convenience channel remains the fastest-growing off-premise outlet for single-serve RTDs, according to broad category data, making c-store shelf presence a primary battleground for emerging brands.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.