Hi everyone, Iam a new member but have been visiting this site for quite a long time.
After reading all your posts and seeing some new products come out on the streets, I stand here scratching my head on the new wave of E-drinks that are just outrageous. Like cans with stickers, can with face Pictures and even cans that are shaped like granades. Good luck to you all but dam, your investors must be a little nervous by now. Im drifting a off a little but please help me with these questions. If you are a distributor, how do you make a decision on which energy drink you want to carry? Is it by taste? packaging? the sales women who sold you the product?(just kidding) If there is a systematic way, how on earth did the no frill one's get out to the market?

it's all relative to money.
no frill energy drinks sell because their cheap.
stuff like Redbull retails for outrageous amounts since it's popular and everyone knows it.

Startup energy drinks have to have something to catch people or they won't sell.

And as far as knowing which energy drink to carry, I always figured they took the ones that the research shows sold the best.

Your right about your question being tricky.
I would guess that your geographical area would help dictate which drink to choose. For Instance, if you distribute in or near a college town the cool, trendy, highly marketed and hyped drink may be your best choice.
If you live in an area that mainly distributes to middle class suburbanites you may choose a drink that offers alot of benefits while still being modestly priced.
In upper-middle class areas you may choose a drink that is strong and highly effective with premium packaging that makes a statement about the consumer.
None of this is concrete, just anecdotal. Afterall, different strokes for different folks.

G

Thanks Nick and Greg, your answers are real good. In fact too good. Which still leaves me with a handfull of companies to work with.
Nick , Greg in your market what E-drinks do you hear about or have seen not including Red Bull, pepsi products and Coke Products.
In my territory NY, I see (aside from the above mentioned) Red Devil, 69, Liquid Ice, xtasy,YJ Stinger, Monster,xs energy drink and heard about Liquid Lighting.
Would you folks distribute a product that no one else has in the area or stick with one that has some presence in your region.

Alligator,
I would first and foremost gather information from the company(s) that you wish to do business with.
First find out if they have any marketing material to provide you, do they offer any type of coolers, dump bins, cold barrels etc, are they already advertising national , locally, regionally. Do they have current print advertising and if so which publications?
Find out exactly who the core demographics are that the drink company is trying to reach. I know you would'nt want to bring in "Crunk or Pimp Juice" to an area that is populated by upper middle class white people. Furthermore, you wouldn't want to bring in REDLINE to an African American community. It's nothing racial it's just that different demographics have different taste and respond differently to certain marketing strategies.
I would also find out some background information on the comapany. i.e. how long have they been in business, do they actually make their own product or have it farmed out, how solvent is the company, what are their plans for the future-are they looking to creat brand extensions or just stay with the same single product.
PLus, take into account your gut feeling when you have heard their offer. This can be very helpful, most people don't pay it much attention these days, they just see the cents and dollars.
Greg
This is a starting point.

Greg makes a good point.

The energy drinks that aren't Red Bull, Pepsi or Coke that do really well around here are

Hype, because people love the taste and kick.
Red Dragon, because it's so cheap, 99 cents a can.
Bawls, because it's different and appeals to people who don't usually drink energy drinks as well.

Check out those brands and try to combine all the things in each of them that makes them successful into your product.

good luck.

That is a good point. I also find that some companies out there like to dump product on to distributors and hope it does well without spending money on providing Manufact. Reps or support programs.
After speaking with some manufacturers, my list of hopefulls are getting smaller by the hour.
Any one out there have good experiences with their manufacturers???

Wow, I guess nobody like their manufacturer.

People like their manufacturer it's just that everyone is trying to increase sales year in and year out. This means the Manufacturer pushes more product on the Distributor who pushes more product on the retailer which means loaded up back rooms. Then the sales slow which makes the Manufacturer pissed which tries to push more product on the distributor which makes the cycle continue. Volume, Volume, Volume........