CORONA, CALIF. — Monster Beverage Corp. executives said they are encouraged by the long-term global forecast for energy drinks, despite slowdowns in US convenience channels last year that contributed to lower-than-expected third-quarter growth.
At Monster’s recent investor meeting and business update, the company said the global compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for energy drinks is projected to rise 7.6%, from $84.3 billion in 2025 to $111.5 billion in 2029, according to research firm GlobalData. Monster’s line of non-alcohol energy beverages includes Monster, Reign, Reign Storm, NOS, Bang, and Full Throttle.
“I’m sure you all have noted from the Nielsen reports over the last 12-, 4-, and 1-week periods, it’s been a little bit choppy,” said Rodney Sacks, chairman and co-chief executive officer. “But we feel we are seeing an acceleration in growth in the energy drink category, including particularly in Monster’s performance, if you take it back from to the middle of (last) year.”
Emelie Tirre, president of the Americas, added that the convenience channel has picked up in the last four weeks, according to Nielsen, with Monster’s portfolio of energy drinks increasing sales by 3.4% compared to a year ago.
“The convenience channel in the US is still where the majority of energy drinks are sold, and we’re seeing acceleration in the convenience category as well as all other channels,” she said.
Hilton Schlosberg, vice chairman and co-chief executive officer, mentioned last August that foot traffic in convenience stores was down by at least 3% during that time. He noted a confluence of factors that may have contributed to that drop have since rebounded.
“The convenience sector in the US, which is a very important part of our business, is again, demonstrating growth,” he said. “During the summer, consumer confidence was down. There was an impending election, consumers had been hit with high gas prices, high mortgage rates, and high energy bills. So, to us, it was understandable that consumers would hold back on some of their spending. The research we did suggested that (consumers) weren’t switching brands, but instead of buying maybe three Monster energy drinks a week, they would buy two.”
Tom Kelly, chief financial officer, noted during the presentation that Monster as a company has had a CAGR of 23.2% since 2003, and since 2019, Monster has had a CAGR of 14.2%, with net sales of $7.1 billion in 2023.
Monster Brewing Co. restructuring
Monster purchased CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective in 2022 for $330 million. Today, Monster’s current alcohol portfolio includes Dale’s beer (alcohol and non-alcohol versions), Beast brand hard seltzer and hard tea, Cigar City Brewing beer, and chelada brand Michi. The entire segment has been underperforming, with the latest 2024 third-quarter earnings from last November showing sales decreased 6% to $39.8 million, from $42.3 million the previous year, with excess inventory contributing to the downturn.
In response last year, Monster renamed its brewing segment Monster Brewing Co. from CANarchy; a new leadership team was appointed, headed by veteran Monster executive Ray LaRue; and it streamlined production by closing two brewing facilities, while reducing headcount.

“We acquired (CANarchy) strategically to enable us to open an alternative distribution channel that we could use to grow and expand the company in both alcohol and non-alcoholic brands — and we did that,” Sacks said. “With that in mind, we sort of worked our way through the existing management and there were challenges. We’re positive about this reorganization. We’ve streamlined the beer distributor network, because they had different networks for different product lines, and we’ve managed to try and consolidate that into a stronger system.”
Response to red dye ban
During the call, one analyst asked how the recent FDA banning of Red Dye No. 3, and the prospect of other dyes being banned in the future, might push more consumers to focus on clean labels and better-for-you ingredients in energy drinks, and whether this will impact formulations for Monster’s beverages in the future.
“We don’t use any of these offensive dyes, and we do not use high-fructose corn syrup either,” Schlosberg said. “It’s not in our products.”
Monster and Red Bull combined represent about 70% of the energy drink market in the United States. Looking ahead to 2025, Monster will release several new flavors across its beverage portfolio, but Sacks said the strength of Monster’s core brands is what ultimately separates it from Red Bull.
“Red Bull has placed more emphasis on flavor, and on zero sugar, and they’ve seen growth,” Sacks said. “But if you look back at their actual innovation, it’s a lot of trial and replacing of flavors and then some stick and some don’t — and they keep on replacing. We believe we have a much deeper bench and a more functional range of products that will appeal to more consumers.”
Monster’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 results are expected later this month. The company’s net income in the third quarter decreased 18% to $371 million compared to the previous year’s third quarter, equal to 38¢ per share on the common stock, down from $453 million, or 43¢ per share, in the same period a year ago.