With a host of new flavour launches and athletes queuing up to endorse brands, there’s everything to play for in Sports & Energy Drinks.
Retailers won’t need reminding that Sports & Energy is a crucial category all year round, but when the sun makes an appearance, it really gets a chance to shine. “Scotland’s energy drinks market is the nation’s fastest-growing category [Circana Scotland – 52 wks to 4th Jan 25], adding the most value for retailers and selling an additional five million units per month during summer [Circana Scotland – Jan vs Aug F24],” states Kenny Nicholson, Head of Irn-Bru Brand at AG Barr.
Since its launch two years ago, Barr’s Pwr-Bru has become the third-highest repeat purchase in stimulant energy [Kantar World Panel, Total Energy, Shopper Demographics & Key Measures, Scotland, 52 W.E. 04/08/24]. “We’re attracting three times the amount of ‘young shoppers’ vs. the rest of the category [Kantar World Panel, Total Energy, Shopper Demographics, Scotland, 52 W.E. 26/01/25],” adds Nicholson.
The firm claims that flavours are powering the market. “Data shows flavoured SKUs are 60% incremental to the market [Circana, Scotland, Energy drinks, Flavoured Unit Sales 52 w.e. 04/08/24],” says Nicholson.
Barr is hoping to drive sales further with the launch of Dynamo Fruit Punch. The company claims that the drink performed “incredibly well” in consumer research with 93% saying they would buy it and 81% of shoppers who loved the taste.
Although core SKUs are important, there’s no denying that much of the energy market’s growth comes from new flavours, highlights Red Bull, noting that 96% of all NPD growth came from flavoured energy over the last 12 months [NIQ Discover S&E Single Serve NPD Total Indies & Symbols Sales Value L52W W.E. 18/01/25].
For Red Bull, limited editions and NPD have been largely incremental, with nearly half of shoppers that bought into the Editions flavour range new to the brand [Kantar combined panel, buyer numbers vs YA, MAT 21.01.2024], acting as a gateway to the core range.
Flavour of the month
The brand’s latest flavour innovation, Summer Edition White Peach, received positive feedback in testing, with many saying they would be likely to purchase a white peach-flavoured Energy Drink, particularly younger shoppers [Vypr | N = 278 Energy Drink Consumers | Likelihood to Purchase | Sept 2024].
Many of the shoppers that buy into the flavoured Editions range are new to the brand [Kantar combined panel, buyer numbers vs YA, MAT 21.01.2024], states Red Bull.
“With 86% of energy drinkers open to experimenting with flavours [Appinio | N = 909 | March 2024], the sub-category has been vital to total Energy Drinks growth,” says a Red Bull spokesperson. This is even more relevant during the summer months, where shoppers look to flavoured Energy Drinks to deliver refreshment, as well as functional boost, states Red Bull.
Everything is just peachy over at Rockstar headquarters too, where the brand introduced Rockstar Energy Zero Sugar Peach in February. Peach flavours have already seen a +153% sales value increase within stimulants over the last year [NielsenIQ RMS, Total Coverage, Sales Value % Chg YA, Total Stimulants, Carlsberg Britvic Defined Peach vs Non Peach flavours MAT to w/e 18.01.25]. “Rockstar Energy Zero Sugar Peach is strongly placed to allow retailers to tap into this trend, with the brand worth £15 million and with 93% of sales driven by flavours over the last year [NielsenIQ RMS, Total Coverage, Value, All Flavours exc. Original Rockstar MAT w/e 18.01.25],” says Ben Parker, Carlsberg Britvic’s Vice President of Commercial Off Trade.
“With the stimulant energy segment outperforming the wider market in 2024 [NielsenIQ RMS, Total Coverage, Value % Change vs YA, Total Stimulants vs Total Soft Drinks, MAT to w/e 18.01.25], this year we want to continue the momentum through our Rockstar Energy brand. However, we also want to ensure that we are recruiting new people into the market and appealing to a wider group of shoppers, to really maximise retailers’ energy sales success in 2025. We know that flavours such as peach are favoured by lighter versus heavy energy drink buyers [PepsiCo Turf Analysis n=800 UK Energy Drink Users SKUs selected to maximise ‘reach’ 2024; PepsiCo Conjoint Analysis, 2024], so we can make stimulant products more accessible with this launch.”
Boost is also aiming to attract new customers with its new Blue Raspberry limited-edition variant. “40% of consumers are looking for new flavours within energy [Tastepoint 2024 Trends], and Blue Raspberry is an established and visually appealing flavour profile that appeals to both Millennial and Gen Z demographics, through nostalgia and modern relevance,” says Adrian Hipkiss, Head of Energy Brands at AG Barr, adding that 90% of consumers who have tried Boost’s Blue Raspberry Energy love the flavour [Vypr, Boost Energy Drinks, May 2024].
Famous faces
Another way Sports & Energy Drinks suppliers are building their brand following is with athlete endorsements.
Lucozade Alert and long-term brand ambassador Anthony Joshua have just collaborated on special-edition cans of Mango Peachade Zero Sugar. The 250ml and 500ml cans feature images of the boxer and will be backed by a social media campaign and in-store POS.
Joshua said: “Lucozade has been in my corner for nine years now, giving me support throughout my career, which has played a big part in my success. This latest launch marks another huge moment in our journey together – I couldn’t be more excited to bring this new product to the world and hope everyone loves it as much as I do.”
Over on Lucozade Sport, its new Ice Kick variant has the backing of England football legend Jude Bellingham. Not only is the midfielder fronting the bottles, he also stars in video content for the brand.
But Jude isn’t the only soccer star energising the category. March saw the UK launch of Más+ by Messi from the Argentina national football team’s most capped player, Lionel Messi. The Prime-esque bottles were exclusive to Spar for a month before rolling out further afield.
One of the first retailers to stock the drink in Scotland was Dan Brown, who owns Pinkie Farm in Musselburgh, who claimed it was “flying off the shelves”. The retailer drove even more excitement in store with a special launch event where one lucky fan won a signed bottle.
The hydration drink boasts a “breakthrough blend” of electrolytes, vitamins and antioxidants, boasting just 1g of sugar and 10 calories per 500ml bottle. “I believe everyone, not just elite athletes, deserves Positive Hydration: amazing taste, with natural flavours, no artificial sweeteners or colours. No caffeine,” says Messi.
Another UK newbie hoping to make waves is Celsius, which flags up high caffeine, natural flavours and seven vitamins to support the body’s natural functions while limiting fatigue. “We’re different from other energy drinks because we focus on movement,” claims the brand. “When combined with exercise, our formula is clinically proven to boost your metabolism.”
Already established in America, the drink onboarded boxer Jake Paul as a brand ambassador in 2023 and was the official energy drinks sponsor of the Netflix Live Event heavyweight fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson last November.
Meanwhile, the £706m Monster brand is using its impressive roster of UFC athletes to help retailers tap into energy drinkers’ thirst for live Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) entertainment. An on-pack promotion is giving consumers the chance to win two tickets to see their favourite fighters up close and personal.
Helen Kerr, Associate Director of Commercial Development at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners GB, says: “Monster and the UFC are the fastest-growing brands in their respective fields. This latest promotion gives our brand fans the incredible opportunity to get up close and personal with the action – which we know they love.”
It seems there’s no stopping the Sports & Energy category as it appeals to growing numbers of consumers through new flavour combinations and athlete endorsements. So make sure your range is in top shape so you can fully capitalise on the opportunity to give your sales a boost.
- Start by getting the right amount of space per category. Sports and Energy accounts for 51% of the single serve soft drink value sales in impulse [Nielsen Discover Indies & Symbols (Single Serve Soft Drinks) – 52 WE 25th Jan 2025], so therefore should make up 51% of the space on the fixture – so take a look – have you given it half of the chiller?
- A 360° approach to visibility is the key to maximising sales of Functional and Energy Drinks. With 30% of soft drinks sales unplanned, visibility and placement are essential to driving impulse purchases. This decision will generally be made on entry into the store, at the food-to-go fixture, or at the till point, therefore, front of store promotions can help to drive an increase in sales, but also secondary placed chillers by the cashier or meal deals with food to go will continue to keep core lines top of mind and drive incremental sales.
- For the 70% of soft drinks sales that are planned, shoppers usually head for the main chiller, so it is crucial their favourite brand is available and easy to find. Use core lines to sign post each category (for Energy that is Red Bull), stocked at eye-level, brand blocked and multi-faced to ease findability. However, it is important to also consider secondary placement opportunities to drive incremental sales across the store.
