Niche no more, energy drinks emerging as the new colas
At Darshan Super Market in Santacruz east, Mumbai, the steady stream of customers for PepsiCo India’s Sting energy drink is telling. In a span of half of an hour, at least 10 people, between 18 and 35 years of age, come asking for the drink. Darshan, the owner, doesn’t disappoint. His fridge is packed with the product.
“Sting costs only Rs 20 for a 250-ml PET bottle. It has this bright red colour and a nice taste. People seem to love it,” he says with a smile.
Once a niche category of beverages with brands such as Red Bull priced at Rs 125 for a 250-ml can and restricted to users in affluent pockets of the country, energy drinks, which include Sting (available in red and blue variants) and Coca-Cola India’s Charged by Thums Up, is vastly different today.
Estimated at Rs 3,500-crore in terms of size and growing at 50-55% per annum in India, consumers — largely aged between 15 years and 35-40 years — come from all socio-economic classes and across urban and rural markets, say beverage distributors that FE spoke to, pointing to the growing popularity of the category.
Energy drinks, also called caffeinated drinks by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which is re-evaluating existing regulation for these products, is today available across grocery, supermarket and mom-and-pop stores. Sting is also available in 250-ml cans (besides 250-ml PET bottles) priced at Rs 35 a unit. While Charged by Thums Up comes in 250-ml PET bottles, priced at Rs 20 a unit.
Beverage industry sources, quoting Euromonitor data, say that Indians consumed over 570 million litre energy drinks in 2023. In 2018, consumption was about 17-19 million litre, implying that the jump in consumption has been over 30 times in six years. This
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