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Gallo has entered the beer category through a strategic investment with the founders of Montucky Cold Snacks. Founded in 2012 by Chad Zeitner and Jeremy Gregory, Montucky Cold Snacks is an American-style light lager known 'to deliver a crisp, clean and invigorating drinking experience,' said Gallo. It has an ABV of 4.1%, 102 calories and 4.95g of carbohydrates per 12oz can. Gallo said it sees Montucky as tapping into a unique consumer enthusiasm, further enriching Gallo's growing 'Total Alcohol Beverage' portfolio. Ernest Gallo, CEO of Gallo, said: "Today's consumer is shopping brands, flavours and occasions across beer, wine, spirits, and RTDs. At Gallo, we focus on serving the consumer and expanding the boundaries of what is expected. "With Montucky Cold Snacks, combined with our expansion of High Noon into vodka iced tea, our partnerships with Canelo Álvarez on VMC and with Lotte on Soonhari Soju, our recent acquisitions of Fishers Island Lemonade, Salt Point, and Waterbird, and our continual wine innovation, such as VIBE by Vendange, we are constantly trying to bring new and better experiences to the consumer." Gregory commented: "Montucky was created to be a refreshing, fun, irreverent, and, most importantly, snackable alternative to premium domestic brands. The brand's core values are rooted in celebrating our consumers for who they are and where they are and donating back to non-profits in the markets we serve." "We believe the key to our consumer loyalty is our commitment to be good, do good, and have fun for both consumers and employees. We have worked hard to build on these principles since inception, and we believe Gallo is the perfect complement to help us continue in this goal." Zeitner highlighted: "With Gallo's resources, core values, focus on consumer enjoyment and similar ethos for giving back to communities, sustainability, and the environment, we believe Gallo is the perfect partner to take Montucky where we have always thought it could go…and help us do a whole lot of good along the way. We couldn't be more excited to see where it goes from here." Britt West, executive VP and general manager at Gallo, added: "...Entering beer offers Gallo an exciting new opportunity to reach consumers in different usage occasions, and we look forward to collaborating and growing Montucky across the beer distributor network. We believe core lager is a big category with room for fresh and innovative propositions. We are super excited that Chad and Jeremy have agreed to stay on and help Montucky reach its full potential." Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.