Liquid death expands into energy Drinks - easy on the octane

Liquid Death, the US water brand known for selling water in large beer cans emblazoned with dripping skulls, hopes to break into the bustling energy category with a new drink, Sparkling Energy.

US water brand Liquid Death, known for selling its product in beer cans has expanded into energy drinks with the launch of Sparkling Energy.

Liquid Death, the six-year-old brand best known for selling water in large beer cans emblazoned with dripping skulls, is moving into the energy drinks aisle. The hook? Its offering will be less loaded with caffeine than most new entrants.

Next January, the company will introduce Sparkling Energy, which it will promote as a better-for-you alternative to some of the competition, executives said. Twelve-ounce skinny cans will promise vitamins, no sugar or artificial sweeteners, and what Liquid Death calls an “unextreme” caffeine level of 100 milligrams.

That’s nearly on par with category pioneer Red Bull, whose slim 12-ounce cans contain 114 milligrams of caffeine. But it’s roughly half the caffeine of recent arrivals like Celsius and Prime.

“We thought, ‘Let’s have a sane level of caffeine, that’s equal to a cup of coffee, because it seems like the category has gone a little caffeine crazy’,” Liquid Death’s founder and chief executive, Mike Cessario said.

The energy drinks category has swollen in the past decade, becoming a tempting target for marketers and investors. Retailers have made room for a host of newcomers, from fitness-themed brands such as C4, to female-focused contenders such as Alani Nu and Gorgie. Meanwhile, coffee brands from Starbucks to Nespresso are pushing heavily into ready-to-drink chilled beverages that are often stocked near the energy drinks.

Holding back on caffeine and additives in Liquid Death’s energy drink also carries forward the strategy that helped its water become a breakout: hawking a health-conscious product in packaging that nods to death metal.

Liquid Death, which last year was valued at $1.4 billion after securing $67 million in its most recent financing round, is confident its “unextreme” lower-caffeine offer will cut through the competition when tied to its branding.

Over the past few years, Liquid Death expanded into soda-flavoured sparkling waters with flavours such as “Killer Cola” and “Cherry Obituary,” as well as vitamin-imbued iced tea made with 75 per cent less sugar than its competitors.

Liquid Death plans to sell its energy drinks for about $2.59 to $3, it said, roughly the same price as its competitors. Its previous water and iced tea products have been priced at the upper ends of their categories.

Energy drinks are the most common other item in the physical and digital shopping baskets of Liquid Death buyers, Cessario said, citing data from consumer research firm Numerator. Better-for-you options, which include some low-sugar but high-caffeine drinks, saw the biggest increase in consumption in the estimated $23.9 billion energy drinks category between January 2023 and 2024, according to Mintel analysis of the US market.

Liquid Death plans to promote its drink with its usual playbook: Its employees will create online comedy skits – Tony Hawk, Ozzy Osbourne and Kylie Kelce have starred in recent videos – rather than running a barrage of 30-second TV commercials.

The ads will poke fun at the cliches of energy-drink marketing, which can veer to the hypermasculine.

“People are ready to laugh at that,” Cessario said.

The Wall Street Journal