Energy Drinks Market

Energy Drinks - Red Bull

What are energy drinks? Cola and coffee drinks have long been promoted and known as "energy" drinks - meant to give you a little pick me up, mostly in the form of caffeine and sugar. Jolt Cola in the 80s was one of the early entries in the "energy drink" market, with double the caffeine of normal colas, it was marketed towards teens and college students as a way to get an energy edge and keep you awake and energized. Their slogan, in fact, was "twice the caffeine". Jolt has in fact recently been reincarnated given the success of other energy drinks. What are the most popular energy drinks? Red Bull, created by an Austrian company, really defined the category, and was launched in Europe in the late 1980s. Their slogan is "Red Bull gives you wings", with images of winged bulls flying in their ads and logos.

Red Bull really gained in popularity and fame in the late 90s and into the new millenium, setting off a whole new market segment of beverages - energy drinks. They sold more than 1 billion cans of Red Bull in 2000, and their growth continues until this day. Red Bull is estimated to dominate 60-70% of the energy drink market - it is popular with teens all the way up through people in their 30s - Red Bull and Vodka is a big drink at trendy bars. One of the main ingredients of Red Bull is taurine - a chemical substance supposed to increase energy levels. But caffeine is the main component that gives Red Bull its kick. One 8 oz. can contains 80mg of caffeine (about the same as a cup of coffee) and 27g of sugar. Why drink Red Bull? If you visit their website, RedBull.com, you'll read that drinking Red Bull increases performance, increases concentration, improves vigilance, improves emotional status, and stimulates metabolism. Is any of this true? Who knows, but there is an entire generation of young people that swear by it.

The Energy Drink Market - Full Throttle, Monster, Rockstar

With the success of Red Bull, a slew of copycat drinks were flooded into the marketplace. The most popular energy drinks are Monster, Full Throttle, and Rockstar. Full Throttle is made and owned by Coca Cola, just like their Coke Blak combination of coffee/cola drink. Full Throttle energy drink is marketed as a rebellious drink, with flames erupting on the can, looking like a handful of Harley Davidson or something. An 8 oz. serving has 110 calories (comes in a 16 oz can) and 29g of sugar. It also packs things like ginseng extract (to keep you sharp) and plenty of caffeine. Full Throttle Fury comes with a citrus flavor and a red can, instead of the standard black can. Coming from Coke, it is almost Fanta Orange like in flavor, vs. the slightly citrussy flavored version of the original. Full Throttle was a late comer to the market, launched in 2005. It is targeted at 20-30 year old men, and contains taurine like Red Bull.

Monster Energy Drink - Rockstar

Monster energy drink is yet another competitor in this crowded field. Unlike Red Bull which comes in the diminuitive 8 oz. cans, Rockstar comes in the larger 16oz. cans, like all the other energy drinks (priced around $1.89 per can is also pretty standard). It also has a sweet citrussy taste similar to Red Bull. The Monster logo looks like 3 claw marks ripping the can open. They also make a low-carb version and Khaos, the juice monster. Monster Energy Assault is their entry into the soft drink flavored market, but with the same energy kick to set it apart. Finally, there is Rockstar energy drink, from the makers of Hansens Natural Sodas. Their motto is "party like a rockstar", targeted clearly at the younger crowd who wants to be wild and crazy and stay up all night. They make several flavors of Rockstar - cola, energy drink, and juiced (which is much like Monster Khaos). The energy drink variety has a similar taste to all the others, while the cola version tastes better than most (it has a slight kick to the aftertaste, unlike most traditional colas). The juiced version is our favorite, with a crisp flavor of mango, orange, and passion fruit, leaving you with no aftertaste. It is actually 70% real fruit juice (and 100% energy as they claim!). They were the first to use the 16oz larger size, and this has caught on and become the standard. Only Red Bull continues to market the smaller cans, which is part of their image.

While the UK is certainly not the only market in Europe where energy and sports