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Red Bull Gives You Wings! And Now, Flavors

By Oct. 10, 2012
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Red Bull Editions

While the Red Bull-sponsored Stratos Project has been temporarily grounded — daredevil Felix Baumgartner’s attempt to break the sound barrier while free-falling from 120,000 feet up was scuppered due to high winds on Tuesday — the company’s energy drink line is taking off. The popular energy drink brand has announced plans to roll out Red Bull Editions — three new flavors in color-coordinated 8.4-ounce cans—this coming March. It’s the first time the Austria-based beverage company has altered its signature flavor.

(PHOTOS: Free Falling from the Edge of Space: Felix Baumgartner Prepares for His Epic Leap)

Expect to find cranberry-flavored Red Bull in bright red cans, blueberry in (you guessed it) blue cans and a lime-flavored beverage in silver cans.

Bloomberg Businessweek reports that Red Bull still leads Monster — its nearest competitor in the energy drinks category — in total dollars earned, but that Monster has an edge in the U.S. market (34.8 percent versus 29.5 percent).

(MORE: New York Lawmakers Investigate Energy Drink Claims)

But with the market for energy drinks growing at 16 percent a year, adding new flavors is a natural next step for the Red Bull brand, Amy Taylor, vice president of marketing told USA Today. “Taste is a barrier for the category, and taste is a barrier for Red Bull. After 12 years in the U.S., we can now introduce flavors without confusion. It’s about expanding the consumer base.”

Monster already has over a dozen varieties of its Monster Energy drink and has introduced four other lines of Monster drinks, including six different varieties of the coffee-flavored Java Monster line. Red Bull, in contrast, has only had added a cola drink and Red Bull Total Zero, which offers a zero calories, carbs or sugar, an option the company introduced earlier this year.

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