It’s not so much been a long time coming as it is a long way for them to come, but Red Bull has finally announced that it was going to move three flavored line extensions from overseas into U.S. markets. The company says it will unveil the three tomorrow at the opening of the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) Show in Las Vegas.
Debuting will be the “Red Bull Edition” line in cranberry, lime and blueberry flavors – called Red Edition, Silver Edition and Blue Edition. They will be available for sale in March, 2013 as single 8.4 oz. cans and 4-packs that will be line-priced with other Red Bull SKUs. 
Between the new Red Bull Editions products and the Red Bull Total Zero addition earlier this year, it’s been a veritable blizzard of innovation from the company, which has long had a reputation for staying the course in terms of new product development.
The idea behind bringing the flavored products – already available in Austria, France and other European countries – to the U.S. is primarily to continue growing the category, according to Red Bull’s marketing chief, Amy Taylor.
“We are still really focused at Red Bull on growing the base,” Taylor told BevNET. “Taste remains a barrier to entry to the category, so we’re trying to lower that. In terms of perception and reality it’s good to have extra options.”
The introduction of the flavors may have taken a long time compared to products that debut with multiple varieties and sizes, but the slow-and-steady approach is one that Red Bull has followed for years. It’s hard to believe in a category expected to reach nearly $12 billion by 2016, but for Red Bull, the notion of the category reaching maturity is one that is far off.
“We have a very small but loyal user base vs. the rest of beverage,” Taylor said. “Maturation is not within sight right now. I think we’re in our adolescence.”