PepsiCo, Monster Energy Co., MillerCoors and Red Bull among winners
May 4, 2015
Nielsen announced yesterday its twelve Breakthrough Innovation Winners for 2015. Among the twelve winners, four beverage products made the list this year: Monster Energy Co.’s Monster Energy Ultra, PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew Kickstart, MillerCoors’ Redd’s Apple Ale and Red Bull GmbH’s Red Bull Editions line.
Deal swaps ownership of Coca-Cola’s energy portfolio with Monster’s non-energy brands
August 15, 2014
The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, and Monster Beverage Corp., Corona, Calif., have entered into definitive agreements for a long-term strategic partnership that they expect will accelerate growth for both companies in the global energy drink category.
As beverage manufacturers get more creative in their product development, more beverages seem to be blurring category lines. One category that has been both aided and challenged by this multi-platform approach is the energy drink category.
According to Mintel, 42 percent of people who drink energy shots take them in the afternoon, and 49 percent of people who consume energy drinks also do so in the afternoon, said Jennifer Zegler, global food and drink analyst at the Chicago-based market research firm, in Beverage Industry’s August 2013 issue.
Monster Beverage Corp., Corona, Calif., reported a more than 10 percent increase in gross sales to nearly $614 million in the first quarter of 2014, which ended March 31. Net sales in the term also increased by more than 10 percent to $536 million, and gross profit reached 53.5 percent of net sales.
Accumulating 130 additional SKUs within the last five years to reach nearly 500 total SKUs, Beverage Industry Bottler of the Year Swire Coca-Cola USA was pressed to find a warehousing solution to accommodate this proliferation.