NACS Review

NACS is nothing if not a reminder that Americans love their caffeine. This year’s annual convenience store trade show in October featured more than a few coffee brands and energy drinks checking each other out with thirsty eyes.

Stok Cold Brew — one of the few brands actually growing in the highly competitive liquid coffee space — is using its current momentum to slide into energy-focused canned RTDs. Reps at the booth showcased the three-SKU line (Vanilla, Mocha, Caramel), which packs 195 mg of caffeine per 12 oz. can, with an extra boost coming from guarana, ginseng and B Vitamins; “Supports Focus” is the chief callout.

At 21 grams of sugar and 140 calories each, Stok Cold Brew Energy is distinctly positioned from Stok’s single-serve cold coffee, which doesn’t have a large c-store presence. These are going directly after that channel with an exclusive launch in 7-Eleven this month before going wide in 2025; at c-stores, these will complement parent company Danone’s indulgent 16 oz. RTD coffees under the International Delight banner, with a Cinnabon-branded release being the latest entry.

Over at the Keurig Dr Pepper booth, we got a first look at Black Rifle Coffee’s previously announced foray into traditional energy drinks, in the form of a four-SKU line in 16 oz. cans that’s launching in early January. Don’t expect to see the assault rifles and weaponry that BRCC emblazons on its RTD coffees: these drinks, which will be moving on KDP trucks alongside energy drinks from C4 and the newly acquired GHOST, lean into more generic Americana patriotism in their design. At 200 mg caffeine each, they aren’t too different in terms of payload, though some of the pre-workout functional ingredients are left out.

Then there’s Pepsi, owners of Rockstar, distributors of Celsius and the dominant force in RTD coffee through its Starbucks partnership. The soda giant is yet again attempting to crack a stubborn challenge: how to translate rising interest in non-coffee energy drinks at Starbucks stores (and competitors like Dutch Bros, Dunkin’ and Panera) to at-home occasions. This time it’s with Starbucks Iced Energy, available in Blueberry Lemonade, Watermelon Splash and Tropical Peach next year. Per Pepsi reps, the recipe is meant to mirror the cafe experience with a robust 160 mg caffeine, zero sugar and less than 10 calories per can.

Acknowledging that past efforts didn’t quite hit the mark, Pepsi’s approach here is to lean further into the Starbucks brand rather than away, as it had in launching the now-defunct Baya energy drink several years ago under the SB banner. From the simplified callout of “Iced Energy” to the prominent Starbucks logo splashed across the front of the can, this is unmistakably aimed at SB fans.

Within Pepsi’s energy mix, there are some interesting parallels to Celsius: like that product, Iced Energy feels geared towards female consumers, and it is positioned to play inside grab-and-go coolers in Starbucks locations (Celsius has also sought stronger ties with food service and meal pairings recently, on the backs of Pepsi’s own distribution network).

And what about Monster? The OG king of energy coffee has tried various ways of expanding its interests in the category over the years, but maybe the only way to go is up: this year’s innovation is the appropriately aggressive Killer Brew Triple Shot. When you slap a Punisher-style skull on the front of the can, the vibes are pretty apparent — expect 300 mg of caffeine per 16 oz. can in two flavors, Mean Bean and Loca Moca.

Another big takeaway from this year’s NACS: consumers really miss their childhood.

What other explanation could there be for the onslaught of “bombsicle”/“frost” flavors at NACS? Those red, white and blue iced treats — Firecrackers, if you are a Pop-sicle purist — were nearly ubiquitous at the trade show, with many brands we spoke to either releasing a SKU (AMIN.O. Energy) or noting that a similar flavor currently in their lineup was a best-seller (Gorilla Mind, C4). And it’s not just with energy: from what we’re hearing, Liquid I.V.’s officially licensed Pop-sicle Firecracker flavor is outperforming expectations by about 2x.

Elsewhere, perhaps a decade’s worth of soda-bashing has made us all a bit misty-eyed for more innocent times. Next-gen soda leaders Olipop and Poppi have leaned into classic colas and CSD flavors to great effect, and other brands seem to be following their lead, most notably Liquid Death. That radical marketer’s big release was adding two new soda-adjacent flavors to its flavored sparkling line (sweetened with agave): Killer Cola and Doctor Death, both in 19.2 oz. cans.

As for Big Soda? They’re just getting more soda-y. Coca-Cola is adding Orange Cream as a LTO to its flagship line, while Pepsi, citing 60% year-over-year growth in demand for “cream” flavors, is dropping Wild Cherry & Cream as a limited release for next year.

Elsewhere, Chobani is putting on some muscle, in more ways than one.

As management emphasized during their coming out party at Expo West in March, Chobani and La Colombe are being presented as independent but equal partner brands; at NACS this month, show reps wore shirts with “Chobani La Colombe” at their shared booth, where draft lattes were flowing alongside drinkable yogurts. Yet in terms of innovation, this year’s show was all about the Greek yogurt brand’s move to capture a bigger piece of the ever-swelling protein market.

Chobani’s potential moves with regards to product positioning are somewhat limited: its regular Greek yogurt drinks have 10 grams of protein per 7 oz. bottle, while its Complete (20 grams of protein in its five SKUs) line is still around and performing well in c-stores, Frost said.

But the new High Protein line spreads the attack across no less than 10 new drinks spanning three formats, starting with a 7 oz. bottle (15 grams protein) available in two flavors for $1.99 each. The middle tier offers the most flavors (six) in 10 oz. bottles with 20 grams of protein each. Finally there is a 14 oz. size that packs 30 grams of protein in two flavors, putting it in the range of the highest-payload products from OWYN.

It may be a crowded space, but like La Colombe with coffee, Chobani believes the core proposition of its protein drinks is particularly compelling, ticking boxes for no added sugar, natural ingredients and high-quality casein protein. Data shows that nearly 80% of yogurt consumers are looking for more on-the-go options, Frost noted, and with c-stores driving around 30% of overall growth in yogurt drinks, Chobani will have the product range to help retailers flesh out their growing sets when Protein launches in January. Having a large brand commit to the format may also be good news for other cold-chain protein players – think Koia and Remedy Organics – that are making inroads at convenience, too.