The energy drink market may reach a new level

It is predicted that from 2022 to 2032, the global energy drink market will reach a compound annual growth rate of 7%, and the market size will reach $98.
8 billion.

The history of energy drinks dates back to the 20s of the 20th century, and then in Thailand in 1966, an international IP that swept the world, Red Bull
.
With the entry of Thai Red Bull into China in the 90s of last century, it also officially announced the official start
of China's energy drink industry.
After that, energy drinks gradually began to occupy an increasingly important position
in China's beverage market.

A new choice of healthy drinks

According to Euromonitor data, the retail sales of energy drinks in China continued to increase from 26.
3 billion yuan in 2015 to 45.
2 billion yuan in 2020, with a five-year CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 11.
5%, and the growth rate was at the leading level in the soft drinks sub-sector, and its proportion in the soft drinks segment continued to increase from 6.
7% in 2015 to 9.
3%
in 2020.

According to the national outdoor sports incentive policy, China is currently encouraging and supporting the development of
outdoor sports tracks.
In August last year, the State Council issued the "National Fitness Plan (2021-2025)", after the implementation of the plan, the national fitness public service system will be more perfect, and with the further improvement of people's enthusiasm for fitness, the energy drink market may reach a new level
.

With the further expansion of the sports population, the demand for energy drinks is also increasing
.
In addition to the convergence of energy drink consumption by different genders, there is also a trend of younger people in the age of consumers, and more and more sports-loving young people and health care elderly people have begun to pay attention to the choice of
healthy drinks.

At present, the consumer group of energy drinks is gradually expanding, and the application of consumption scenarios is more abundant and diversified
.
In addition to traditional truck drivers, workers and athletes, consumers of energy drinks are gradually joining more consumer groups such as urban white-collar workers, bodybuilders and students.
In terms of application scenarios, energy drinks are popular
among esports athletes and gamers in addition to fitness sports.
In addition, energy drink consumption scenarios are gradually expanding from various fatigue scenes to more casual consumption scenarios such as parties, travel, and daily life, which is more in line with the trend of
younger consumption and daily life.

In short, the reason why energy drinks can quickly occupy the share of the beverage market is inseparable
from the particularity that it can cover a variety of consumer groups and scenarios, and can cover all ages.
In addition, the formula also caters to the current dietary needs of the public, and with the improvement of living standards, health has become the most important point
for consumers.

Healthy new products are constantly pouring out

Since the 21st century, the wind of energy drinks has also exploded in Europe and the United States
.
In order to meet the current needs of "sugar-free", Devil's Claw also launched a sugar-free energy drink Monster Energy Zero Sugar
in 2022.

The drink was specifically developed by the brand as a zero-sugar analogue
of its Monster Energy Green flavor.
While providing exercise energy and in line with the current zero-sugar health theme, the energy drink world is really getting more and more "rolled"
.
According to Nielsen, sales of energy drinks in the United States increased by more than
8% year-on-year as of July this year.

In addition to established energy drinks, there is no shortage of rookies
on the market.
Recently, PepsiCo and Starbucks jointly launched a new series called "Baya Energy", launching energy drinks containing coffee, once again challenging
the canned ready-to-drink energy drink market.
It is reported that this is the third time Starbucks has attempted
.

This energy drink is a joint venture between Starbucks and PepsiCo, a joint venture between North American Coffee Alliance, Inc.
in 1994
.
It is made
by extracting the caffeine in coffee beans and adding vitamin C.
Containing calories and caffeine, this functional drink not only refreshes and replenishes energy, but also removes the bitterness of coffee and introduces a refreshing fruity taste for a larger audience, taking care of the feelings of different groups of people for greater market penetration
.

For the huge potential of the female energy drink market, some beverage companies have even launched energy drink brands specially developed for women, such as Dongpeng, which launched a women's energy drink "She Can SHECAN"
.

According to official disclosures, women's energy drinks pay more attention to the natural health and palatability of the formula, different flavors of natural juices, zero fat, zero added sucrose, low calories, while using natural coffee beans, vitamin B and amino acid combinations, the product also added collagen, the main contemporary women stay up late overtime, review and preparation, sports and fitness, parent-child play and other multiple life scenes combination
.

In addition, in addition to traditional liquid energy drinks, there are even solid energy drink packs
that are easier to store and transport.
For example, Baozhuoli Water Special Company has launched a main fitness function, rapid energy replenishment electrolyte powder, each small contains 13 grams of powder, easy to carry and suitable for multi-scene drinking
.

WonderLab has also launched a solid drink with carb-breaking powder, which introduces fresh fruit flavors
with strong palatability such as refreshing honeydew melon flavor, cherry lychee flavor, orange lemon flavor, etc.
The main ingredients are natural white kidney beans, oat fiber, chia seeds and specially added probiotics, focusing on dietary fiber, which can be used as a meal replacement option
for people who exercise fat loss.

The innovation and breakthrough of energy drinks is not only reflected in the efforts of product raw materials and forms, but also actively expands consumer groups and scenarios, and timely discovers young consumers and mainstream consumers
.
Only by accurately finding product positioning and meeting the needs of target consumers can we successfully occupy a place
in the energy drink market.

Domestic brands are full of life

In 2024, the scale of China's sports drink market is expected to reach 21.
582 billion yuan
.
This market size of only 20 billion yuan has now attracted many brands
.
Contemporary people, especially residents in first- and second-tier cities, have a fast pace of life, staying up late and working overtime has become the norm, and "refreshing the mind" energy drinks have become one of the life choices of
contemporary people.

According to Euromonitor International, from 2014 to 2019, the compound growth rate of energy drink online platform sales was 15.
02%, the fastest
growth rate among all beverage categories.
In addition, relevant data also shows that the global energy drink market size in 2018 was about 53 billion US dollars, and this number is expected to reach 86 billion US dollars
in 2026.

Energy drinks mainly include energy drinks, sports drinks, and nutritional drinks, with energy drinks being the largest
market.

At present, the domestic market structure is still mainly divided
by brands such as Red Bull, Dongpeng Special Drink, Lehu, Physical Energy, and War Horse.
However, with the continuous emergence of new consumer brands in recent years, when new consumer players enter the game of sparkling water and sports drinks, the innovation of energy drinks is also an inevitable trend
.

From the financial report in the first quarter of this year, in order to improve the ecological chain of the brand, various beverage brands have also begun to gradually layout subdivision tracks
.
In the past, brands that focused on making soft drinks such as sparkling water and milk tea have also begun to focus part of their attention on the cake of functional drinks
.

The monthly sales of Alien Electrolyte Drink, a functional beverage brand under Genki Forest, have exceeded 100 million yuan; In addition, Sinopec Yijie launched the "Jinchun" small bottle drink for the driver group, and the sales performance was also good; Want Want Foods has also once again launched the "Hi" nutrient drink
.
In addition, the old beverage companies Yibao, Wahaha, Dali and other brands have already begun to deploy functional drinks
.

The concept of sports drinks has been introduced into China for 10 years, but relevant data show that China's per capita sports drink consumption is still far behind the world's annual level of 7 kg
.
This further highlights the huge potential consumption space
of energy drinks.
As the concept of "healthy consumption" gradually becomes a new consumption trend in China's beverage market in the future, the demand for sports functional drinks will be greater, and may account for more than 50% of the market share
of functional drinks.

Energy drinks have developed into an important subcategory of the beverage industry and show a continuous and stable development trend
.
As the beverage market gradually expands, the blooming and thriving trend of the track will also become an important reason to
attract capital.

(Yuan Guobao)

China Food News(November 14, 2022, Version 07)

(Responsible editor: Wang Jiayi)