History of Energy Drinks Where Are They From? How Long Have There been Energy Drinks Around?
Ever wonder how long energy drinks have been around and what energy drinks are sold around the world? So did I, I wanted to know how long people have been using energy drinks and what types are sold around the world. The answers were pretty interesting and in a few cases amazing as well.
The first mass market energy drink dates all the way back to 1901! Unfortunately for the last cowboys of the old west they did not have access to this Scottish energy drink. The Scottish drink Irn-Bru was the first recorded energy drink marketed. Irn-Bru commonly referred to as Iron Brew was brewed and marketed in Scotland.
The UK followed Scotland in 1929 with their own energy drink Lucozada Energy. Lucozada Energy was marketed as a medicinal beverage. It was not until decades later in the early 1980’s that it was sold to replenish energy. This change in marketing saw a new surge in the popularity of this energy drink.
Japan began marketing its own series of energy drinks in the 1960’s. Japans first energy drinks were not sold like soft drinks. Instead they were bottled in brown bottles more closely resembling medicine bottles. Japans first energy drink was Lipovitan. Energy drinks in Japan and South Korea are named genki-products.
The 1980’s saw a new slogan for energy drinks. The drink Jolt Cola was marketed as having twice the normal caffeine of any other soft drink. This increased caffeine aided the drinkers of Jolt Cola to stay awake, and was the cornerstone of the marketing strategy. Quick note Jolt Cola had the same amount of sugar as the other leading soft drinks of that time.
Pepsi in the United States introduced Josta in 1995. Josta was Pepsi’s first energy drink, and lead the way for other major soft drink manufacturers in the energy drink market.
Red Bull has long been a marketing leader in energy drinks. This energy drink was created and marketed by a very market savvy Austrian named Dietrich Mateshitz. The Red Bull energy drink was developed to resemble and is actually based on an energy product named Krateing Daeing. Krateing Daeing is manufactured and sold in Thai Wan with a fair amount of success. Interestingly enough this Thai beverage Krateing Daeing was developed to not only resemble but was also based on the original Japanese energy drink Lipovitan.
Energy drinks are one of the fastest growing retail drink markets in the world. In 2001 energy drinks recorded sales of $8 million annually. Only 5 years later energy beverage sales grew to exceed $3 billion dollars annually.
One of the interesting developments in the energy drink market was a new approach to marketing. This approach was in the form of a unique packaging of energy drinks initiated by the Snapple Corporation in 2002.
They began producing and bottling there energy drinks in aluminum bottles shaped like bullets. One of the increased marketing benefits of these bullet shaped aluminum bottles was the fact that they are easily recycled. This adds appeal to those of us interested in recycling for the betterment of environment.