Monster Mutant energy drink and V8+Energy
Monster Beverage Corp. recently launched its Mutant soft drink, and Campbell intends to grow its V8+ Energy brand.

Growth for energy drinks

Like bottled water, the growth percentages are positive for energy drinks as well. The category saw a 10% volume increase in the United States in 2015, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp.

“Consumers have spoken,” said Michael C. Bellas, chairman and chief executive officer of the Beverage Marketing Corp., when the 2015 results were given in March 2016. “They’ve made their preferences clear. The rapid growth in bottled water and functional and niche alternatives like energy drinks expresses a shift away from most large traditional beverage categories.”


More energy drinks were launched globally in 2015 than in any year since 2008, according to the Mintel Global New Products Database. A 10% increase in global consumption of energy drinks in 2015 raised the market to 8.8 billion liters.

 


Some beverage companies are exploring different beverage categories.

Monster Beverage Corp., Corona, Calif., in 2016 announced plans to introduce a carbonated soft drink called Mutant that will extend its product portfolio beyond energy beverages and compete with the Mtn Dew brand owned by PepsiCo, Inc. Mutant contains 115 mg of caffeine per 20-oz container.

The Campbell Soup Co., Camden, N.J., will continue to grow its V8+ Energy brand, said Mark Alexander, president, Americas Simple Meals and Beverages, in a July 20 investors day.


“This brand continues to perform strongly as consumers, especially young parents, choose our blends of pleasant natural juices and green tea over stronger artificial tasting energy drinks,” he said. “We will invest in building distribution, in-store activation, and targeted digital and mainstream advertising to capitalize on the brand’s strong double-digit growth.”

In sports drinks, Gatorade, a PepsiCo brand, was the brand leader in the United States with 1,1041.8 million gallons consumed in 2015, up 5% from the previous year, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp.

Gatorade G Organic, which launched in August, is made with seven ingredients, certified organic through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program and provides the scientifically proven fueling benefits found in Gatorade Thirst Quencher.

Orange juice
Global fruit juice and drink consumption exceeded 80 billion liters in 2015.

Global fruit juice and drink consumption exceeded 80 billion liters in 2015, according to Zenith International, Bath, United Kingdom, which forecast the market to rise by 5% annually over the next five years.

“The juice drink market is becoming increasingly diverse with future advances, particularly in North America and west Europe, dependent on innovative and original products,” said Esther Renfrew, director of Zenith market intelligence.

U.S. retail ground coffee sales slipped nearly 2% to $4.045 billion in the 52-week period ended Aug. 7, according to Information Resources, Inc., a Chicago-based market research firm. Brand category leader Folgers had sales of $1.2 billion, down 2% from the previous 52-week period.

Starbucks K-cup pods
Single-cup coffee sales for Starbucks rose 17% to $587 million.

U.S. retail single-cup coffee sales rose nearly 10% to $3.8 billion, according to I.R.I. While vendor leader Keurig Green Mountain saw sales drop 14% to $1.25 billion in the 52-week period ended Aug. 7, single-cup coffee sales for Starbucks rose 17% to $587 million.

Keurig Green Mountain, Waterbury, Vt., a business unit of JAB Holding Co., discontinued the manufacture and sale of its Keurig Kold system in 2016. Launched in 2015, the cold beverage dispensing system was supposed to bring greater scale to the in-home, single-serve cold beverage market.

U.S. retail canned and bottled tea sales were $2.097 billion for the 52-week period ended Aug. 7, up 8%, according to I.R.I. Sales rose 12% to $866 million for the Pepsi Lipton partnership, the vendor category leader. AriZona, the brand leader, had sales of $397 million, up 1.1%.