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Report: European energy drinks market ‘robust’

Despite difficult financial times, energy drinks show robust growth in Europe, according to a new report from researcher Canadean. This, it says, is due to flavour and ingredient innovations, as well as the emergence of low calorie options that meet the needs of a small, but growing, health-conscious consumer group. According to the report, the […]

Despite difficult financial times, energy drinks show robust growth in Europe, according to a new report from researcher Canadean. This, it says, is due to flavour and ingredient innovations, as well as the emergence of low calorie options that meet the needs of a small, but growing, health-conscious consumer group.

According to the report, the European energy drinks market is expected to increase by 4.9% to reach close to 550 million litres in 2015.

“Energy drinks are highly submerged in people’s daily routines, which might be one of the reasons why they are so resilient in countries where other categories such as carbonates and beer have been continually declining,” said Angela Wynne, analyst at Canadean.

Even in countries like Greece and Russia, where consumers spend less on beverages due to the economic circumstances, energy drink volumes have stayed stable, Canadean notes. The report finds that the widening range of flavours and product extensions are the main drivers behind the continued expansion of energy drinks. Nevertheless, energy drinks remains a niche market, accounting for less than 0.1% of total beverage consumption.

The volume of fruit-flavoured products has increased by around 11% between 2013 and 2014, Canadean says, with new flavours such as orange, mojito, lemon-lime or pineapple-lime being launched.

“These new flavours are targeting consumers who do not like the classic taste of energy drinks and who use them for refreshment, especially during the summer time,” said Wynne.

In some countries, such as Hungary and Poland, new flavour innovations have succeeded in bringing back the younger generation to energy drinks.

Canadean also says it witnessed some development in energy drinks with natural ingredients, such as naturally sourced caffeine and drinks without taurine. In Latvia, Aldaris (Carlsberg Group) launched ‘Super Manki’ in 2014 – a natural energy drink free from caffeine and taurine. Guarana is also becoming more popular, with product ranges in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany often containing the guarana berry as an ingredient.

Low calorie energy drinks have also increased by 11.6% across Europe between 2013 and 2014, as consumers see low calorie options as a way to overcome the current health concerns over energy drinks.

“The industry is trying to change the perception of the category and tap into the new health-conscious demographic to ensure its future growth,” said Wynne.

However, the market share of low calorie energy drinks is low (<0.1%) and likely to remain low as most energy drinks are consumed by young men who are less concerned about calorie content.