well thought I would do a quick post. opportunities some times take along time to set up as we all know.
however I would think most people on forums are in some way connected with a beverage through production, distribution or Importation.

The USA market is huge and I would appreciate a bit of feed back on a couple of things.

1/ are people that shop at your normal convenience store inclined to also shop at health organic stores and vice versa?

/2 In Australia you can see energy drinks and the like selling at $2 type shops and the same drinks selling at normal retail outlets, presumption is selling at $2 shops undervalues the product which retails for $3.00 else where.
I guess it can be asked does the wholesaler then retailer pass on any discount to the buyer given by the Company.

I see so many drinks been sold on the internet directly and bought by the pallets and containers, however I don`t see how any control of product from companies can be done to support official distributors.

we are currently looking to market in several Countries and are USA ready.

we produce all natural sports and energy drinks. the products are available in NZ- Malaysia- Australia- India - and soon to be in the UK and China. negotiations are underway for other areas.

keen to chat to a reliable and established distributor/Importer for particular areas in the USA and where possible other areas

I'm speaking totally as a consumer here, I have no experience whatsoever with the business end.

The problem with the US market is that you have a TON of competitors and basically 1 or 2 doors worth of shelf space in your average 7-11 (which is where about 60% of all energy drinks are sold, IIRC).

I think the only things that can set you apart from the legions of competitors are price, unique but appealing product (perhaps a unique exotic fruit flavor), and possibly niche appeal.

If you make a high quality product for a low price, you have a shot. Monster has gotten where it is now mainly by giving customers twice as much for a lower price. If you can undercut the Monster price point with a product that is just as good, you might have a shot at cracking the market.

You might want to also look at 4 packs for supermarkets and 16/32 packs for the warehouse merchants (Costco/BJs/Sam's Club). If you can keep the prices lower on these, you'll have a much better shot at the addict market (people like me who buy 3-4 boxes of Rockstar/Monster at a time).

Good luck, you have a long hard road ahead of you.

Originally Posted by BriGuy20

I'm speaking totally as a consumer here, I have no experience whatsoever with the business end.

The problem with the US market is that you have a TON of competitors and basically 1 or 2 doors worth of shelf space in your average 7-11 (which is where about 60% of all energy drinks are sold, IIRC).

I think the only things that can set you apart from the legions of competitors are price, unique but appealing product (perhaps a unique exotic fruit flavor), and possibly niche appeal.

If you make a high quality product for a low price, you have a shot. Monster has gotten where it is now mainly by giving customers twice as much for a lower price. If you can undercut the Monster price point with a product that is just as good, you might have a shot at cracking the market.

You might want to also look at 4 packs for supermarkets and 16/32 packs for the warehouse merchants (Costco/BJs/Sam's Club). If you can keep the prices lower on these, you'll have a much better shot at the addict market (people like me who buy 3-4 boxes of Rockstar/Monster at a time).

Good luck, you have a long hard road ahead of you.

IMO arm chair opinion.....the success of a mass market/regional ED is all about
marketing and media attention. ED's (good quality ones) are getting so abundant that
just quality alone is not enough to make or break an ED.