With platforms geared toward athletic enthusiasts, sports drinks experienced a resurgence in sales. The total category increased 14.9 percent to more than $3.9 billion in sales, according to SymphonyIRI Group, Chicago, for the 52 weeks ending May 15 in U.S. supermarkets, drug stores, gas and convenience stores and mass merchandise outlets, excluding Wal-Mart.
Non-aseptic bottled sports drinks made up most of the category with more than $3.8 billion in sales and a 14.6 percent increase, SymphonyIRI states. This segment reflected the rebranding efforts by category leader PepsiCo’s Gatorade brand, which in 2010 released its G Series and G Series Pro product lines. G Series Perform 02, which is the rebranded Gatorade Thirst Quencher, and Recover 03, a new protein-enhanced post-workout beverage, reported $1.9 billion and $33.2 million in sales, respectively.