History of Energy Drinks
The first real drink made just for energy was in Japan in the 1960's by Taisho Pharmaceuticals as a drink called Lipvitan-D. This drink contained a mix of essential vitamins such as B1, B2 as well as B6. It also included in its ingredients niacin and taurine which are metabolic agents proven to boost things such as energy and concentration. First introduced as a medicinal tonic drink for those suffering from lack of energy and fatigue, it grew in popularity in Asia as part of a fad that had more to do with late party hours and clubbing. From Japan and China on downward news of a tonic to help you stay up later and be more productive spread and eventually it made it out of Asia and into Europe but not before some interesting turns and twists in this energy drink filled road.
This tonic drink made it's way to Thailand with in the next decade and became a popular drink for rickshaw drivers in Thailand called “Krating Daeng” The main active ingredient in this drink was taurine, an amino acid that was first discovered in bulls as was later taken on by an Austrian in 1987. A Dietrich Mateschitz took this novel idea and ran with it, adding caffeine and sugar and named this drink Red Bull, after the taurine amino acid. This was a drink that quickly became extremely popular in Europe right off. It was introduced in American a decade later in 1997 and has been rising in popularity ever sense then. In fact energy drinks when up 61% in the year 2005 alone in the U.S. Market and every year energy drinks go on to become more popular and come out with more variations.
Energy drinks are now the latest man-made fuel of choice to keep the economic world still spinning, and may wonder what we ever did with out them. With more people working more hours than ever, even they need more energy to do it. Before Red Bull, the first energy drink made its way to America, the American citizens were already beginning their frantic search for something that would help them work those longer hours as the global job market began to change and people in the U.S. Especially began to stay longer hours away from the home and more hours at work. Jolt Cola has a short term popularity before Red Bull hit the scenes, but now it is almost impossible to find.
Even though other energy drinks later hit the market, Red Bull still remains the most well known and top name, with annual sales around the two billion dollar mark globally. Name brand Soda's like Coca Cola and Pepsi have started their own energy drinks as a way to better compete with this new fad in mega-caffeine filled drinks and Jolt Cola has tried to fight it's loosing battle be re naming itself a energy drink and coming in a can shaped like a battery. Hanses Sodas introduced some competition for Red Bull with Monster Energy and Rockstar coming in third behind the other two energy giants.