Hansen prepares for 2012 launch of 16.9oz Uber Monster 'brewed energy drink'
The drink will be an “ultra-premium, nonalcoholic, brewed energy drink, crafted with a fermented malt base… in 16.9-ounce glass bottles with a crown closure”, chief executive Rodney Sacks told analysts on a conference call last week.
Monster Rehab opens up a ‘whole new demographic’ for energy drinks category
Uber Monster is the latest in a flurry of new launches from the California-based firm, which has just introduced three new variants of low-calorie non-carbonated energy drink Monster Rehab and the ‘super-concentrated’ energy drink Monster M3, which were all introducing new consumers to the energy drinks category, said Sacks.
“We are very happy with the results for Rehab. We think that it’s ... broadening the consumer demographic for Monster, being non-carbonated, being more of a chuggable, sort of drinkable product.”
Monster outperforms rest of energy drinks category, closes gap on Red Bull in convenience channel
Hansen, which posted a 23.9% rise in net income to $82.4m on sales up 24.4% to $474.7m in the third quarter, was outperforming the overall energy drinks category with its Monster products, added Sacks.
According to Nielsen data for the 13 weeks to September 24 (all outlets: convenience, grocery, drug and mass merchandisers, excluding Walmart) energy drinks and shots sales were up 15.1% versus the same period a year ago, said Sacks.
“Sales of Monster grew 22.4% in that period, while sales of Red Bull increased by 14.8%, sales of Rockstar increased by 20.6%, sales of 5-Hour increased by 18.5%, sales of Amp decreased 8.1%, sales of NOS increased 7.9% and sales of Full Throttle decreased 11.2%.”
Monster had performed particularly strongly in the convenience and gas sector, and now had a 30.4% share of the energy drinks and shots market compared with Red Bull’s 31.8%, Rockstar’s 9.9% and 5-Hour’s 10% share, he revealed.
Within the energy category, energy-plus-coffee drinks were up 10.5%, with strong performances from Hansen’s Java Monster ( up 13.5%) and the Starbucks Double Shot Energy (up 16.2%), he added. .
Worx Energy shot fails to deliver
The only negative related to the performance of energy shot Worx Energy, which has recently been supported by a blast of TV advertising.
While the firm had just secured listings for Worx in “certain of the largest convenience store chains in the United States”, distribution levels remained “at unacceptably low levels” while sales were still not meeting expectations, he said.
For the nine-months ended September 30, 2011, net income was up $36.1% to $221.7m, while net sales were up 31.3% to $1.293bn at the firm, which sells a wide range of beverages including juices, Monster energy drinks, Peace Tea iced teas, Worx Energy shots, Vidration vitamin enhanced waters and Hubert's lemonades.
