Emerging Trend and Opportunities of Global Energy Drinks Market | Growth Market Reports
                     Emerging Trend and Opportunities of Global 
Energy Drinks Market | Growth Market 
Reports
Energy drinks are primarily consumed as energy 
booster and physical performance enhancer, and 
also widely used as a dietary supplement by many 
teens and young adults worldwide. The millennial 
population, between the age groups of 18-35, are 
the main consumers of these drinks and the 
demand for energy drinks globally is growing 
rapidly due to increase of consumption among 
adolescents. According to a data, almost one-third 
of teens between 12 and 17 years drink them 
regularly keeping the view that these products 
give them energy boost to improve physical and 
cognitive performance. 
Over the last few years, the consumption of 
energy drinks are growing significantly among 
teenagers and the market for the drinks globally is 
expanding substantially due to the rise in 
numbers of sports players or athletes. One key 
reason for growing demand for energy drinks is 
that consuming large amount of caffeine is 
primarily believed to be offering desired effects 
such as improved memory, increased alertness, 
and elevated mood.
Nevertheless, the global energy drinks industry is 
a highly-saturated market controlled by a few 
giants; thus, the market scope for new players in 
the industry is very minimal and discouraging. 
Meanwhile, the market is currently facing several 
challenges because of the wide availability of 
substitute drinks in the forms of packaged juices, 
aerated beverages, and malted health drinks that 
offer low prices compared to the energy drinks. 
Main Compositions and Types of Energy Drinks:
Different manufacturers use different components for their variance of 
energy drinks although the drinks usually serve one main purpose i.e. to 
boost physical stamina. However, energy drinks primarily contain 
caffeine, taurine, herbal extracts, vitamins, glucuronolactone, proprietary 
blends, and amino acids as the major ingredients. Other components of 
energy drinks may include guarana (another source of caffeine 
sometimes called Brazilian cocoa), sugars, ginseng, yohimbe, carnitine, 
and bitter orange.
On the basis of product types, two kinds of energy drinks are available; 
normal drinks and shots. Normal energy drinks has a size of ordinary soft 
drinks, available in 16-oz. bottle while shots have a concentrated caffeine 
amount with a container of 2 to 2½ oz. In shots, the levels of caffeine 
contents are around 113-200 mg whereas the normal drinks of 16-oz 
bottle contains 70 to 240 mg of caffeine. According to National Center for 
Complementary and Integrative Health, United States (US) Dept. of 
Health and Human Service, consuming large amounts of caffeine may, 
however, cause serious heart and blood vessel problems such as heart 
rhythm disturbances and increases in heart rate and blood pressure for 
children as well. 
Some Major Manufacturers of Energy Drinks and their 
Current Market Portfolio
These five players namely Red Bull GmbH, 
Monster Beverage Corp., Rockstar Inc., The Coca-
Cola Co., and PepsiCo Inc. in combine dominate 
the global market for energy drinks by occupying 
more than 85% of the total market share.  Red 
Bull, Monster, and Rockstar are some of the most 
popular energy drink brands worldwide.
Red Bull GmbH and its Products
It is an Austrian beverage company and a privately held energy 
drinks manufacturer that introduced the drink in 1987 for the first 
time. Later, the company gained popularity when its famous product, 
Red Bull became a widely consumed drink in the US in 1997. 
Currently, markets for Red Bull are widely expanded across 167 
countries with a strong sales experience in India, Japan, Turkey, 
Scandinavia, Russia, and Brazil. According to the company’s website, 
Red Bull GmbH sold over 7.5 billion cans in 2019 and contributed the 
highest market share for energy drinks globally. As per Forbes, the 
market value of the company was estimated at USD 20 billion in 
December, 2019.
Red Bull has many sizes including 12-ounce cans with different 
varieties such as original, sugar-free (5 calories), total zero (no 
calories), and Editions (cranberry, blueberry, tropical, zero-calorie 
orange, and zero-calorie cherry). The key components of the drinks 
are caffeine, taurine, B vitamins, sucrose, glucose, and carbonated 
water. The company heavily invests on advertising strategy and 
relies on extreme sports sponsorship, buzz marketing, and television 
ads.
Monster Beverage Corp. (MNST) and its Products
MNST, a California-based energy drinks manufacturer, was considered to 
be the big challenger for Red Bull company’s products in the next few 
years after it was founded in 1990. It failed to compete with Red Bull in 
the late 90s but subsequently gained its popularity in 2002 because of 
the growing sales in the US. Currently, the company has its markets 
over 114 countries and is trailing after Red Bull; meanwhile, these two 
companies is presently controlling more than 70% of the US energy 
drink market. According to Euromonitor International, Red Bull had about 
32% of the worldwide market while Monster had about 14% in 2013. As 
given in the company’s website, till June 30, 2020, the company had 
$921.3 million in cash and cash equivalents, $250.8 million in short-term 
investments and $2.1 million in long-term investments.
Monster drinks has its popular 16-ounce cans with a range of 36 
varieties including its flagship Monster Energy drink to double-strength, 
coffee-flavored, fruit-flavored, no-calorie, protein-enhanced, and other 
varieties. The main ingredients of Monsters’ drinks are carbonated 
water, sucrose, glucose, taurine, Panax ginseng, L-Carnitine, caffeine, B 
vitamins, glucuronolactone, inositol, and guarana, though ingredients 
vary somewhat by flavor.
Rockstar Inc. and its Products
Rockstar Inc., is a subsidiary of PepsiCo Inc., was founded in 2001 
in San Francisco, Las Vegas. As of 2009, it covered 14% of the US 
energy drink market. The company’s tagline is that its energy 
drinks are “designed for those who lead active lifestyles.” 
Currently, the energy drinks of Rockstar are available in 
convenience and grocery stores in more than 30 countries 
including the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia; and its market 
strategies are solely based on affiliations with action sports, 
motorsports, live music, and models.
It has offered 27 different products ranging from Rockstar Original 
energy drink to zero carb (10 calorie) and zero-calorie versions, 
recovery drinks, coffee flavors, and more. Main ingredients of the 
drinks include carbonated water, sucrose, glucose, taurine, 
caffeine, L-Carnitine, milk thistle extract, ginkgo Biloba leaf 
extract, guarana seed extract, and Panax ginseng root extract. It 
currently contributes about 10% of the US energy drink market. 
According to Forbes, the annual average sales growth of the 
company has declined rapidly over the years.
Key Problems Associated with the Consumption of 
Energy Drinks
Some negative outcomes are evident when energy drinks are 
consumed excessively. For quite often, many youngsters have 
developed a habit of either using energy drinks with alcohol or 
excessive consumption to reduce stress and stay alertness in 
several occasions. To mention some key problems of excessive 
consumption of energy drinks are as follows:Excessive Caffeine 
Content
Considering the health problems associated with the excessive 
consumption of energy drinks, The US Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA) set a caffeine limit of 71 mg per 12 ounces of 
soda and about 120 mg per 12 ounces for energy drinks. However, 
energy drink manufacturers may choose to classify their product as 
a supplement to sidestep the caffeine limit. For companies that 
classify their energy drinks as beverages, the American Beverage 
Association published voluntary guidelines that advise accurate 
listings of caffeine content, restriction of marketing to children, and 
reporting of adverse events to the FDA. However, compliance to 
these guidelines has been found to be low.
Mixing with Alcohol
Combining Energy drinks and alcohol is a major 
trend for a large number of underage drinkers or 
young adults, which often lead to the situation of 
binge drinking. Studies pointed out that people 
consume more alcohol when mixed with energy 
drinks since caffeine keeps the body alertness and 
reduces the level of intoxication. As per the report 
by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
 (CDC), those drinkers between the aged of 15 to 23 
drinkers, who had the habit of drinking alcohol 
mixing with energy drinks, consume four times more 
to pursue binge drinking in the US. CDC also found 
that 10.6% of students in grades 8, 10, and 12 
from US schools and 31.8% of young adults aged 19 
to 28 have history of consuming alcohol mixed with 
energy drinks at least once in the past year.
Other Health Conditions
In some case, high consumption of energy drinks 
may be linked to adverse cardiovascular, 
psychological, and neurologic events, including 
fatal events. The International Society of Sports 
Nutrition suggested that higher-calorie energy 
drinks can lead to weight gain, and that their high 
glycemic load could negatively affect blood 
glucose and insulin levels. Thus, consumption of 
energy drinks for children and adolescents without 
the guidance of parents could result severe health 
conditions for the kids. 
Current Market Trends and Performance
As per a detailed report, the global energy drinks market was valued at 
USD 51,728.4 million in 2019 and is projected to reach USD XX,XX3.2 
million by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 6.5% during the forecast period.
Among the two types, the nonalcoholic segment is dominating the global 
market for energy drinks because of the reason that it boosts the energy 
by improving physical and cognitive performance. In 2018, the 
nonalcoholic segment controlled the major share of the market that 
accounted for more than 50% of the global energy drinks market and the 
segment is expected to witness a higher growth during the forecast 
period. Meanwhile, the alcohol segment that contains an average of 
around 2% to 5% of alcohol by volume, is growing at a significant rate 
due to surge in demand from the mature economies such as the United 
Kingdom, Australia, the US, and Spain.
On the basis of the end user, the adult group segment are the major 
consumers of the products and contributed a major market share of 
around 45.90% in 2018, due to rise in consumption of energy drinks by 
working adults to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This segment is anticipated 
to grow with the highest CAGR of 6.70% during the forecast period, owing 
to increase in consciousness toward intake and diet among sports 
athletes.
Among the sales channel, the increase of retail sales through 
e-commerce platforms contributed huge opportunities for 
expansion of energy drinks in the global market. Online sales 
are growing rapidly and preforming well for energy market 
growth since many manufacturers have preferred to attach 
with the giant e-commerce retail shop. However, the wide 
availability of energy drinks on supermarkets are also 
contributing to boost the market expansion significantly.
At present, the United States, China, and Brazil are the major 
destinations for energy drink markets globally. Among regions, 
North America is currently occupying the majority share in the 
global market for energy drinks due to the higher consumption 
by a large portion of teenager population and increasing health 
concerns among consumers. However, Asia-Pacific is expected 
to grow at the highest CAGR of 7.4% during the forecast period 
and expected to reach USD 26.4 billion by 2025 due to the rise 
of disposable incomes of the large populations of the region. In 
combine, Asia-Pacific and North America is currently occupying 
more than half of the global energy drinks market share.
In Europe, the market share for energy drinks is 
projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.5% over the forecast 
period and to reach USD 19.52 billion by 2025 due to 
growing healthy concerns and increasing consumer 
adoption rate in the region, supported by the rise of 
marketing efforts by many leading manufacturers. The 
growing demand from the European consumers for 
healthy, zero-calorie, and low-sugar functional products, 
in order, also boosted energy drink production in the 
region. Although, markets for energy drinks in South 
America and Middle East & Africa have relatively smaller 
scope due to less consumers but observing the growing 
interest for children and adolescents for energy drinks 
in the region are expected to push the global market at 
a considerable rate. 
Analysis of Market Strategies for Manufacturers
Other competitors in the global market for energy drinks include Arizona 
Beverages USA, Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., Living Essentials Marketing LLC., N.V.E. 
PHARMACEUTICALS, National Beverage Corp., Osotspa Public Company 
Limited, Power Horse Energy Drinks GmbH, Rhino Rush, Taisho 
Pharmaceutical Holdings Co. Ltd., Tweaker, and VITAL 4U. Many of these 
companies are actively engaged in adopting several market strategies such 
as product launch, entering partnership or collaboration agreements, and 
acquisition and merger to enhance their market position in the global 
footprint. Some of the major events for the manufacturers’ attempts for 
strengthening their portfolios are as follow:

Early this year, Monster Beverage Corp. entered an agreement with the Coca-
Cola Company to expand their presence in the market. Under the deal, Coca-
Cola agreed to transfer its energy drinks including NOS, Full Throttle, Burn, 
Mother, Play and Power Play, and Relentless to Monster corp. In 2015, Coca-
Cola acquired nearly 17% equity stake in Monster for USD 2.15 billion in cash 
and opened its global distribution arm to Monster to improve their 
manufacturing and strengthen their distribution. In return, Monster agreed to 
transfer its non-energy drinks such as Hansen’s, Hubert’s, Peace Tea, and 
Blue Sky to Coca-Cola, which helped to increase their sales globally.
Monster and Rockstar have broaden their soft drink 
products to compete with smaller players.  For 
example, Rockstar has an organic offering and Monster 
has its green tea products to widen their market 
presence. According to BeverageDaily, the market for 
energy drinks has been expanded with the addition of 
new products based on with branched-chain amino 
acids (BCAAs), protein, beetroot extract, and creatine.  
Other relatively new varieties of existing energy drinks 
are based on no sugar, no carbs, no calories, and, 
counter-intuitively, no caffeine products, which indicate 
a high selling point globally besides the availability of 
coffee flavors and non-carbonated flavors.
Many manufacturers have adopted several marketing 
strategies including limited-edition drinks offered only 
in certain store chains and flavors tailored for different 
countries, to promote their products and increase their 
control in the global market.
COVID-19 Impact on Energy Drinks Market
Consumer products food & beverage companies are facing challenges 
since the global production and their business activities are largely 
affected by the ongoing COVID-19 impact. Energy drinks industry is 
among the major sectors of food and beverage category that suffers a 
drastic setback due to the sudden disruption of commercial productions 
and global supply chains. Consumption at home through the means of 
online retails has steady increased due to the emergency lockdown of 
outsource sources but the large sales growth is generally associated with 
the out-of-home consumption, which brings a major drawback.
Monster’s second quarter net and gross sales were adversely impacted 
by the COVID-19 pandemic, in part due to disruption in the supply of the 
company’s bottlers/distributors reducing their inventory levels. However, 
the company claimed to have experienced a sequential improvement in 
sales in the latter half of the quarter as certain countries and states 
began to gradually re-open. Based on currently available information, the 
company does not expect the COVID-19 pandemic to have a material 
impact on its liquidity.
Nevertheless, the slow return of global economy and the re-opening of 
various industries indicate an optimistic view of the future market for 
consumer foods and beverage products.