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Launched in July 2019, Irn-Bru Energy has outperformed all other leading slim can flavoured energy products1, selling over 5 million cans.2
This year, Irn-Bru Energy is supported by a huge £1 million brand investment, which included heavyweight outdoor and digital advertising in March, to drive trial and awareness amongst Scottish energy drink shoppers.
Energy is a really important category for retailers to get right, with nearly 1 in 2 ‘drink now’ soft drinks sold in Scottish convenience stores being an Energy drink3,” said Adrian Troy, Marketing Director at Barr Soft Drinks
Consumers are increasingly opting for flavoured variants when choosing an energy drink and Irn-Bru Energy, from the No.1 Scottish Grocery Brand4, offers an exciting additional choice, combining the iconic flavour of Irn-Bru’s top secret essence with the taurine, caffeine, B vitamins and taste of an energy drink.
Available in sugar and no sugar options, retailers should merchandise both variants of Irn-Bru Energy in the chiller next to other slim can energy products to offer shoppers choice and drive incremental sales.
Adrian Troy, Marketing Director at AG Barr identifies key trends driving the growth of Energy:
Flavour: Taste is the No.1 reason for a consumer to choose a soft drink and Energy shoppers are looking for more than functionality from an Energy product. Flavoured Energy has grown £21m in the last year5 highlighting the importance of the category for retailers. Energy should be given its fair share of space on the fixture to offer the choice of flavours that shoppers are looking for which will ultimately increase retailers’ profits.
Innovation: Innovation in the Energy category has seen the consumer base shift. No longer are Energy drinks the reserve of the traditional young male gamers. There are 13.9 million people in the UK consuming Energy drinks – 36.4% of those are between 15-29 years old and 42.8% are female6.
Because of this shift in demographic over the years, brands need to appeal to a wide range of consumers with a wide range of interests. TGI research from Q1 this year highlighted that energy drinkers have interests ranging from music, theatre, photography and experimenting with food. Whilst some are gamers, they’re also adventurous and career driven6. This led to 135 new Energy SKUs last year which generated £95m growth for the category6.
Sugar: Sugar is an important component of energy for the majority of consumers, but a growing number are looking for a lower calorie or even sugar free option. Some energy drinkers may want zero sugar energy, but they don’t want it to look, feel, perform or taste different to regular energy drinks.
- IRI Marketplace, Value Sales, Total Standard Energy Slim Can Formats, Qtr to 22/05/20, Total Scotland
- AG Barr Sales Data
- IRI Marketplace, Value Sales, MAT to 22.05.20, Symbols & Independents Scotland
- Kantar World Panel, Value Sales, Take Home Non-Alcohol Brands, MAT to 18/09/19, Total Scotland
- IRI Marketplace, Value Sales, Drink Now Energy, MAT to 23.02.20, Total Marketplace
- TGI Q1 2020 Survey
