CELSIUS, the fastest growing energy drink in the US, is launching four zero sugar, fruit-forward flavours from its ‘core’ product line-up from January 2026.
The launch, aligned with the brand’s LIVE FIT™ ethos, is engineered to capitalise on the seasonal surge in wellness and maximise incrementality for retailers.
The flavours – Sparkling Raspberry Peach, Sparkling Mango Lemonade, Sparkling Kiwi Guava, and Sparkling Strawberry Watermelon – are part of the brand’s ‘core’ line-up that have helped make CELSIUS the fastest growing energy drink brand in the U.S.
CELSIUS’ international president, Garrett Quigley tells Wholesale Manager all about the new launch and what sets the brand apart from others.
How much is the UK energy drinks sector worth?
The sector is worth £2 billion at a total retail level. The growth in the last 52 weeks is 15%.
What trends are driving market growth?
Sugar free is outpacing the total category, which itself is outpacing the total liquid refreshment beverages category. Sugar free is growing 25% versus the 15% growth for the total category. Within that, there has been a 32% growth in the last 12 weeks, so we’re seeing that trend accelerate.
Then there are flavours. Within both total soft drinks and energy drinks, flavour innovation is a huge driver of the growth. The consumer is constantly looking for new flavours, and we see that from existing players as well.
Are functional drinks a key growth sector within energy drinks?
Yes. Consumers are looking for something that fits their lifestyle, and so they’re looking for a healthier version of the energy drink. The zero sugar variants and the ones with functional benefits are what’s driving that 25% growth overall.
I would say the energy category lags the carbonated soft drinks category in the shift over to zero sugar, because a lot of them, the incumbents, were heavy sugar. Now that we’re seeing that trend towards zero sugar start to accelerate, so we’ll see a catch-up on that.
What flavours of energy drinks are popular?
There’s a wide range of flavours across all of the brands. What we see is the berry, citrus mix, as well as the exotic fruits like guava, with experiential blends. We are finding the consumer likes to experiment in this space.
We typically look at the heavy consumer, the 18- to 34-year-old. They’re the heavier target that we go after. Within that consumer group, we see a whole range of flavour, choice and experimentation.
What are your predictions for the energy drinks category for the next five years?
We are seeing 9.2% for the next five years. Within that, zero sugar energy drinks are forecast to grow at 15%. For a mature soft drinks category, that’s pretty healthy.
What are your key products that wholesalers should be stocking?
We would recommend wholesalers stock the range of four, four single service SKUs in 355ml cans: Kiwi Guava, Strawberry Watermelon, Raspberry Peach and Mango Lemonade, plus our PMP products.
What sets your brand apart from the others?
If you look at CELSIUS in Sweden and Finland, there’s an existing energy drinks category, and there’s been a lot of entrants that have come in. CELSIUS has come in with a differentiated proposition, which is around this better for you positioning, around fitting into your lifestyle and fitness.
CELSIUS has been able to come in and bring incrementality to the category with this unique positioning around better for you energy focused on fitness and lifestyle.
Taste in all soft drinks is the number one driver, and it’s critical. And our new products taste great.
What are your brand values?
CELSIUS as an overall brand wants to inspire people to live fit and healthy lives, and to facilitate that, helping them with energy and motivation to push and achieve their limits.
It’s not just fitness, it’s a mindset around lifestyle, and that’s what CELSIUS wants, to empower people to make the most of every day. That’s the core.
How do you work with wholesalers to help them grow sales?
We partner with Suntory Beverage & Food. We’re the brand owner, we do the above the line marketing. And then we work with wholesalers to make sure that they stock the right range, they’ve got the right visibility in store, and they can excite and engage their customers, beyond just standard product sampling, experiential sampling and in-store. We do lots of different activations in-store, in retail and in wholesale, and it’s working with Suntory to bring those to the wholesalers.
What marketing support do you currently have for your brand?
We have a big US marketing team. We’re now setting up an international marketing team, and then each market has its own marketing team that looks at what are the local needs and takes the global proposition and tailors it for the local, culturally relevant context of the market.
The LIVE FIT GO Campaign will be coming to the UK and we’ll be blending that with how we boost the influencers and the ambassadors throughout the year.
Do you have any NPD?
We have launched the four new flavours but that doesn’t mean we will stand still. The category is constantly changing. We will constantly be looking at what the consumer likes and what they want.
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