Red Bull is the energy drink of the world. How did Pepsico make Sting the energy drink of India?

The FMCG giant's energy drink is winning over e-rickshaw drivers, school-goers, and the 18–30-year-old crowd in India. And its bottler, Varun Beverages, is the biggest beneficiary
 Aakriti is a business reporter spotting trends in consumerism. She works at the intersection of consumer companies and the food & beverages (F&B), and retail industry.

For Chintu (15), Pankaj (13), and Bhola (12), relishing Sting, a red-coloured, berry- flavoured energy drink, is an everyday ritual. These adolescents from Bijwasan, a village skirting Delhi-Haryana’s border, were doing just that when The Ken met with them on one hot afternoon in May.

Chintu, who studies at a private school and owns an iPhone, has the “highest pocket money”. Pankaj and Bhola, who attend government school and are sons of daily wage workers, earn their living selling flowers near a temple on weekends. All three of them save up enough to buy a week’s supply of this energy drink.
“Sting ke aage Pepsi bhi fail hai (Pepsi is nothing compared to Sting),” the three said about the energy drink, unaware that it happens to be marketed by the American beverage giant Pepsico.

Energy drinks are stealing the show among all beverages, with people visibly drawn to their appeal as stimulants. They are replacing carbonated drinks and juices. (According to the three teens, mango drinks are for kids). They’re also being used as cocktail mixers at parties. And it has become an alternative to chai at tea stalls during late-work breaks and a meal replacement for daily wagers.

So much so that Indians collectively consumed over 570 million litres of energy drinks in 2023, up about 30X from 2018, per global market-research firm Euromonitor’s data shared with The Ken.

And among energy drinks, Sting has become the most preferred choice.

Until six years ago, Austrian beverage giant Red Bull was synonymous with energy drinks in India—and mostly for urban consumers with a high disposable income. At Rs 125 (US$1.5), it was out of reach for most Indians; which, in turn, kept energy drinks restricted to a tiny corner of the beverage market.

But Pepsico blew the market open with Sting in 2020 with a price tag (Rs 20 or US$0.2)
80% lower than Red Bull’s. Available in blinding red and blue variants, it has caught on like
no other drink in recent memory. As of 2023, it holds a lion’s share (90%) in terms of
volumes in the energy-drinks market—a clear reversal from 2018.

Source:-  The Ken