LAS VEGAS -- In what might be one of the quietest, but most energy-filled new-product rollouts of the year, two beverage manufacturers introduced energy/sports-drink hybrid products during the NACS Show earlier this month that could make a pretty big splash in convenience stores and beyond.
NOS Active Energy
The big horse in the race comes from Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, which offered samples of its new NOS Active Energy drink. Playing off the NOS Energy brand name, the beverage looks and tastes more like a PowerAde line extension; however, the new drink includes not only hydrating properties, but also the caffeine that has kept NOS and other energy drinks flying off store shelves.
"NOS Active is a hybrid between a sports drink and an energy drink," Mel Landis, Coca-Cola Refreshments chief customer officer, told CSP Daily News. "We think this fits well into that space for consumers in an active, healthy lifestyle, the hydration space."
Aimed at 18- to 34-year-old males, NOS Active Energy is a non-carbonated energy drink that contains caffeine from natural sources, vitamins B6 and B12, and electrolytes. The product will come in three flavors: acai blueberry pomegranate, raspberry lemonade and fruit punch. It's packaged in 22-ounce bottles, each containing 22 calories.
"It's going to be interesting to see what happens with NOS Active, when you take energy and combine it with another category [in this case, sports drinks]," Landis said. "It's really active hydration."
Rockstar Energy Water
Meanwhile, Rockstar Inc. is launching a similar concept in Rockstar Energy Water, a noncarbonated, caffeinated vitamin- and herb-enhanced water beverage. "Packed with a potent blend of caffeine, guarana, ginseng, B vitamins and taurine," Rockstar Energy Water is packaged in 20-ounce bottles, each containing zero calories and 125 milligrams of caffeine.
Rockstar is urging retailers to merchandise the drink, which comes in tropical fruit, orange tangerine and blueberry pomegranate acai, in the enhanced-water section of the cold vault rather than with energy drinks.
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