CORONA, Calif. -- Retailers and consumers can expect category-blurring innovation from Monster Beverages this year, likely including an enhanced water and other new products that "could significantly accelerate growth" for the beverage maker.
The supplier is tight-lipped about the specifics of the launches but said four new drinks/lines will launch this fiscal year, including entries into three new subcategories.
"While Monster’s plans for its major innovation have been kept close to the vest, several retailers believe the most likely categories are enhanced water and coffee," analyst Bonnie Herzog said in her latest Beverage Buzz survey of convenience-store retailers. "We believe an entry into water could be highly incremental."
Monster Beverages CEO Rodney Sacks recently said the company will innovate outside its core category this year but has not offered any additional hints.
"We have innovations as I have indicated coming. It is going to come later in the year, but we do have quite a robust innovation pipeline," he said during an earnings conference call in April.
A company spokesperson also would not offer any detail.
One new product dubbed Mutant Monster is scheduled for July release, according to Wells Fargo Securities analyst Herzog, but again, Sacks has been mum on what exactly the product is.
"We are excited about the prospects for our new Mutant beverage, which we are planning to launch in the third quarter," he said without providing additional details.
"We believe Monster will roll out these new products in a major way, leveraging the entire Coca-Cola system on a scale significantly larger than its previous launches of Ultra and Rehab. This should not be underestimated in our view," Herzog said. "We think these products will blur category lines, thereby giving Monster additional cooler space at retail, expand into new households and greatly increase consumer penetration. We continue to expect at least one new platform will be an energy-enhanced water."
Of course, Monster wouldn't be the first to market energy water. Coca-Cola's NOS Energy introduced NOS Active Energy in 2012. The beverage combined the hydrating properties of PowerAde with the caffeine boost of original NOS. That same year, Rockstar launched Rockstar Energy Water, a noncarbonated, caffeinated vitamin- and herb-enhanced water beverage.
Other beverage brands that have used the "energy water" description include Hi-Ball Energy, Neuro's Sonic and even vitaminwater's Energy Tropical Citrus, which includes 50 milligrams of caffeine.
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