Performance energy brand Adrenaline Shoc (A Shoc) is tapping into the natural space with this week’s announcement of A Shoc Accelerator, a new line of plant-based drinks featuring a “thermogenic blend” of functional ingredients.
Accelerator is rolling out into select stores now and next month will add 7-Eleven stores nationwide. A Shoc co-founder Scot De Lorme said that several other national convenience store chains have also agreed to take on the new line this year, as well as Target.
A Shoc Accelerator is available in Orange Mango, Cherry Limeade and Island Guava flavors. Each 16 oz. can contains 200mg of caffeine (100mg less than the core line) sourced from green coffee beans, yerba mate, coffee fruit extract and guarana and its thermogenic blend of green tea epigallocatechin gallate (EPCG), capsaicin and ashwagandha. The drinks also contain zero sugar, no artificial flavors or coloring and have added electrolytes sourced from ocean minerals.
Founded in 2019 by De Lorme and serial entrepreneur Lance Collins (also the founder of NOS), Adrenaline Shoc’s flagship product is targeted at the growing fitness or performance energy trend, exemplified by brands like Bang, C4, Reign and CELSIUS. That segment has largely evolved from the supplement space, where consumers expect Though that formula contains better-for-you elements, including zero sugar, Accelerator turns to natural ingredients in order to meet the growing demand for all natural products.
Though brands like Runa, Guru and Mati Energy have brought plant-based energy to the market before, Accelerator’s launch comes as the trend has gained support from major beverage conglomerates. Last month, Molson Coors Beverage Company partnered with a founding team featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to launch ZOA Energy, a line of drinks containing added electrolytes, caffeine from green tea and unroasted coffee and superfood ingredients.
“That’s where we’re heading — people are label readers now,” De Lorme said. “People are looking for better-for-you, especially the younger generation coming into this space. They want to know what’s in it and how it affects their body. So I think the evolution of this category is absolutely going more natural.”
According to De Lorme, A Shoc is also preparing to launch this year a cross channel marketing campaign called “Charged By Nature,” aimed at increasing the household penetration of energy drinks by targeting active, wellness-minded consumers. The campaign will lean heavily on the brand’s athlete partners, including surfer Billy Kemper and NASCAR driver Chase Elliott, to promote the brand.
Beginning in May, A Shoc will begin a series of pop-up events in select cities featuring fitness influencers to “drive excitement around the brand,” De Lorme said. Among the events will be Spartan Race competitions (A Shoc is the Official Energy Drink of Spartan).
He added that even as brands like Bang have grown significantly within the past few years, there is still a lot of work to be done in order to bring performance energy drinks “out of the gym” and into consumer’s daily lives.
“The idea is to convert a lot of people that never drink energy drinks to come into the category and realize that, hey, they aren’t bad for you,” De Lorme said. “They actually can help you if you need a boost of energy, or if you’re training, or for performance. So it’s about threading that gap right now between traditional energy and the new performance space.”
A Shoc is backed by Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP), which handles much of the company’s distribution, sales and field marketing. As part of its agreement, the conglomerate also has a path to ownership for the brand. According to Nielsen data for the 52-week period ending February 6, KDP’s energy drink sales were down 11% to $58.4 million. The decline comes as Bang has also stumbled following its distribution partnership with PepsiCo, down 5.6% in the period. Meanwhile, competing fitness energy brand CELSIUS is up 65.7% for the full year (and 108.7% in the two-week period) to $95.5%.
Since the beginning of the year, De Lorme said A Shoc has focused on expanding its retail footprint, growing its presence in Walmart to 1,000 stores and adding Target with both the core A Shoc line and Accelerator. However, the company plans to stay focused on the convenience channel, which DeLorme said was the key channel for an energy drink to grow in.
As well, A Shoc plans to launch another line extension later this year, De Lorme said. The core line has also received a slight packaging refresh to better call out the drink’s caffeine content.
“The can has to kind of become your everything when you aren’t able to get out and sample for consumers one-on-one,” he said. “When you look at the whole family, we added a neck band and made the call outs a little cleaner. But this was to me one of the impacts from COVID, just learning how to communicate better, with the can and making it the billboard.”