Energy drinks in c-stores: Strong summer for Red Bull, Monster, NOS, Full Throttle, weaker performance from AMP, Rockstar

However, Rockstar Inc sales were down 6.7% and PepsiCo energy drink sales (AMP) were down 10.2% over the same period.

Commenting on the data, Wells Fargo senior analyst Bonnie Herzog said: “Monster continues to perform well in this channel, posting 13.1% dollar sales growth, the highest growth thus far this year. ​

“Furthermore, it was the largest accumulator of both volume and value share across all competitors, as Monster Zero Ultra ​[zero calorie, sweetened with erythritol and sucralose] continues to post strong results.” ​

‘The worst performance for PepsiCo in over a year’​

Meanwhile, sales of carbonated soft drinks (excluding energy drinks) also held up considerably better in c-stores than they did in other retail outlets over the summer, noted Herzog.

While CSD dollar sales plunged 3.8% in all other retail outlets (xAOC) over the four week period, CSD sales in c-stores stayed in positive territory, rising a modest 1.3%.

Coca-Cola’s CSD dollar sales were up 2.7%, although Diet Coke “continued to struggle, posting its largest monthly decline in units sold in over a year”,​ noted Herzog.

Meanwhile, PepsiCo’s CSD dollar sales declined 1.4%, amounting to the “worst performance for PepsiCo in over a year”,​ said Herzog, who attributed the weakness to soft results from Mountain Dew.

 Click here​ to get the Nielsen sales data for the xAOC channel over the summer covering food, drug, mass, Walmart, dollar, club and military stores.​