Leading energy drink brand discontinuing 4 flavors

• Energy drink sales have been growing.
• PepsiCo and Coca-Cola have been trying to gain market share in the space.
• The category of "energy drinks" was created in 1997 in the United States.

The world, and the United States in particular, enjoy energy drinks.

The category, however, is a relative new one.

"Since the Red Bull brand broke upon the U.S. scene in 1997, the energy drink category has been a fast-growth, high-margin phenomenon, not even derailed by the financial crisis and accompanying recession," according to Beverage Marketing Corporation: Energy Drinks in the U.S. through 2027.

There is some dispute over whether Red Bull was the first true commercial energy drink.

“Although marketers credit Red Bull with creating the ‘energy drink’ category, the pursuit of drinks to enhance performance and well‑being is not new,” shared the fourth edition of Principles of Marketing.

It's fair to say, though, that energy drinks became a widely tracked category once the Australian-created product hit the U.S. market in 1997, spawning countless competitors.

Red Bull kills four energy drink flavors

"Red Bull will be discontinuing four flavors at the start of 2026 in order to make room for several other flavors coming to stores," the Snack with Zach Instagram page reported.

He shared which flavors in an accompanying video, along with their replacements.

"Red Bull is set to discontinue four flavors at the start of 2026. Here are each of them as well as what is expected to replace them. The first flavor getting the axe is the Amber Edition sugar-free, specifically that's the Strawberry Apricot," he shared.

It's not all bad news, however, for Amber Edition fans.

"Full sugar is staying," he added. "The same can't be said for Green Edition. Karuba Elderflower is officially out, which was supposed to be permanent because it replaced Dragon Fruit this year."

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One more cut will happen as well.

"The Red Edition, aka Watermelon, is losing its sugar-free version, too. Again, full sugar is safe for now. And then we've got the big boy, which we've talked about before, that being Blue Edition, aka Blueberry," the influencer shared.

Red Bull flavors being cut in 2026

• Amber Edition: Strawberry Apricot Sugar Free
• Green Edition: Karuba Elderflower
• Red Edition: Watermelon Sugar Free
• Blue Edition: Blueberry

"And you might be saying, Zach, you said this was leaving this year. Yeah, it is now officially confirmed that this will be out of market on January 18 2026. Production has stopped, but it's still available for order for stores," he said in the video.

Top energy drink brands by sales

• Red Bull: Sold 12.67 billion cans worldwide in 2024 and generated about $12.5 billion in revenue.
  Source: Accio
• Monster Energy (via Monster Beverage Corporation) reported full-year revenue of about $7.49 billion in 2024, up 4.9% from 2023.
  Source: Monster Beverage Corporation Investors
• Celsius (by Celsius Holdings): In 2024, it had an 11.8% market share of the U.S. energy drink category with $1.36 billion in sales.
  Source: Celsius Investor relations
• Alani Nu: In 2024, the brand had 3.6% U.S. energy drink market share.
  Source: Investors.com

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in the energy drink market

PepsiCo

• Rockstar Energy: Fully acquired in 2020
  Source: PepsiCo
• Amp Energy (via Mountain Dew): Wholly owned
• Stake in Celsius Holdings: 11 % and distribution of Alani Nu
  Source: CSNews.com
• U.S. distributor for Bang Energy
  Source: PepsiCo

Coca‑Cola

• 16.7 % stake in Monster Beverage (Monster Energy)
  Source: Investing.com
• Brands transferred to Monster: NOS, Full Throttle, Burn, Mother, Relentless.
  Source: investors.coca-colacompany.com
• Coca‑Cola Energy: Coca‑Cola’s own energy drink in select markets (discontinued in the U.S.)