Heard this the other day from some friends in the trade. They said they thought that Pepsi in Canada had been doing a lot better with their Monster roll out than AB in the USA. Anyone else hearing this? Could be interesting here in the states, especially with Monster on the verge of their big attempt at an on-premise roll out with AB.

CR

Well, Pepsi is still on the hunt for new brands. Monster is a very strong brand, something Pepsi hasn't been able to replicate with any energy drink they've thrown out there. At this point, it would be easiest to just buy the company out.. but then you've got all those fairly new A-B contracts to buy out as well.

I'd really like to see Pepsi make a true enery cola. I can't believe the big two/three haven't successfully tapped that yet.

I have been saying for a while that this aquisition makes the most sense.

-Pepsi's current ED portfolio is flat and Coke is comfortably ahead with RS/FT.
-Pepsi has a tradition of purchasing strong brands in categories where they are not a #1 or strong #2. I.E. Gatorade, sobe etc.
-Pepsi's CEO has stated publicly that the company is considering some "Large Scale" aquisitions this year.
-Pepsi has to be feeling some pressure to make some aquistions with Coke's recent purchases of Fuze and Vitamin Water.


However, the current market cap for hansens is over 4 billion, not chump change. And..as stated correctly above I do not know how hansens agreement with budweiser would affect the purchase, but it would certainly complicate things.

A friend of mine who works for AB in St. Louis said that there's been some tension between Monster and quite a few Bud houses particularly since AB decided to rebrand and relaunch 180 this year. Apparently, if you drive around St. Louis all you see are 180 billboards and bus stop ads. Hansen's doesn't seem to be getting the focus they were expecting and in some markets - like St. Louis - they are showing relatively modest growth in C-store and are actually losing share in Grocery because of the gaps in distribution presented by the transition.

A move to Pepsi might start to look attractive if Monster continues to lose share because of bad channel management by AB.

CR

Nationwide data shows Monster growing twice as fast as the category in grocery and gaining 2 share points in c-stores. I haven't seen individual market data but I'm sure some markets are performing worse and some performing better. From what I've seen, St Louis market never has been strong for the Monster brand.

From what you've seen, have Bud houses increased execution on the Monster brand in the past year (when 3rd tier distributors had the brand)? Anyone can weigh in, if you know someone who distributes Hansen products it would be interesting to hear their opinion about where the brand is versus year ago. In a place like Florida, I've seen Bud houses build some big displays in grocery stores, but I've seen out of stocks or missing SKUs in a couple convenience stores. In San Francisco, I've seen more coolers placed in the bay area but many corner markets in the city don't even carry the Monster.

-Ooylara

Pepsi would probably not be the best for Hansen's either. What happens in a portfolio athat already consits of AMP and No Fear? Just ask Rock Star! I am sure they would like to have the focus Full Throttle gets in the Coke system.

Originally Posted by NRGSLLR@

Pepsi would probably not be the best for Hansen's either. What happens in a portfolio athat already consits of AMP and No Fear? Just ask Rock Star! I am sure they would like to have the focus Full Throttle gets in the Coke system.

NRGSLLR-your statement is factually incorrect. Rockstar has not had a problem with focs within coke's system. In fact just the opposite is true. If you look at recent share data nationally and regionally you will see Full Throttles portfolio flat to negative while Rockstar continues to grow.

Rumors of Rockstars demise in the Coke system are wrong.

Originally Posted by egg beater

NRGSLLR-your statement is factually incorrect. Rockstar has not had a problem with focs within coke's system. In fact just the opposite is true. If you look at recent share data nationally and regionally you will see Full Throttles portfolio flat to negative while Rockstar continues to grow.

Rumors of Rockstars demise in the Coke system are wrong.

That is right, I heard that Coke is using RS to gain third party DSD for on-premise in some states. I would also think, if anyone was going to buy Monster it would be someone like Pepsi or Coke then use Beer (AB) and or liquor DSD to tackle on-premise in their weaker areas. IMO....this will be the only way to beat out RB for that market share. But if it works it will put who ever over the top of the Beverage battle.

The only problem I see with dividing up on-premise and off-premise between two distributor networks is that the on-premise busines, though important, makes up a relatively small percentage of the business compared with the off-premise. So a liquor or beer house that's only working the on-premise business might not put as much focus and effort behind a brand like Monster that is relatively non-existent in the on-premise channel. Too much effort with not as much pay out.

CR