Russ Energy drink launches at 7-Eleven stores across Australia
Fans are desperately traipsing to multiple 7-Eleven stores to get their hands on a popular social media personality’s just-dropped product.
One of Australia’s most well known food reviewers has launched his very own beverage and people are desperate to get their hands on a can.
Russell Stuart, better known on social media as Russ Eats for his bitingly honest food reviews, has found himself on the other side of the situation, thanks to the launch of Russ Energy.
Mr Stuart’s Russ Energy launched into 7-Eleven stores around the country on Friday. Currently, there are two flavours — Original and Icy Twist. Original is intended to taste like an original energy drink “on steroids” with an added Nerds flavour. Icy Twist was created to taste like a melted Paddle Pop Cyclone, featuring notes such as peach, pineapple and blueberry with apple juice concentrate.
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Mr Stuart told news.com.au he first had the idea for the energy drinks two years ago, but he wanted the product to be “big” and “scale up and down easily”.
“I didn’t want to just launch something online — I wanted to go hard, fast. I wanted to launch something big,” he said.
He said he did a lot of hard work early on so that by the time launch day came around on August 29, he could just enjoy it.
“It’s weird being on the other side of the coin. I’ve been promoting that — I review everyone’s products and now it’s the people’s chance to review mine,” he said.
“With our limited edition flavours that we’re going to do, that’s what we’re going to push for. There are so many reviews online from everyone.”
He said the reviews have been honest, and exactly what he wanted and expected. He said the drink flavours are vastly different, so people aren’t expected to like them equally.
“They’re not similar at all,” he said.
Reviews have come flooding in for the products — including people visiting multiple 7-Eleven stores in a bid to get their hands on them.
TikTok user Jason said he was “gutted” to not be able to find them after heading to several 7-Eleven stores in the north side of Brisbane.
“I don’t even drink energy drinks,” he said, adding he really wanted to try Mr Stuart’s new range and asked people to let him know if they found anything.
Meanwhile, food content creator Dub Eats Everything tested out both flavours.
“That smells good, man,” he said after taking a big whiff of the Original flavour.
“Wow, that’s real good. For a full sugar it’s not too sugary. That’s a really classic taste — what does it taste like?”
He then tried the Icy Twist, labelling it “sick” and quickly pinpointing the flavour inspiration for the drink.
“The flavour on these are crazy. They don’t have that chemical taste that some energy drinks have,” he said.
He ultimately decided that the Original was his favourite of the pair.
A spokesperson from 7-Eleven weighed in on the drink’s popularity.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Russ Eats and have been delighted by the response from our customers, who are excited to see the range across our stores,” the spokesperson told news.com.au.
“At 7‑Eleven Australia, we pride ourselves on offering one of the best ranges of energy drinks in the country, and partnering with Russ Eats makes our range even better – something our customers are absolutely loving.
“We’re proud to serve our customers with products that get them excited and that they love anytime they need them, and this partnership is a perfect example of that.”
For those struggling to find the drink, Mr Stuart said another run should be heading into stores in the next few days. He also said discussions are being had to try and get the drink to people in South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
“We want everyone to have it, and people are getting upset they can’t find it, but for me the fact we’re already in every 7-Eleven is unbelievable,” he said.
“The fact that everyone wants it is just crazy.”
He compared the hype to that of Caramilk, and said the fact his own product was having a similar reaction was “wild”.
Mr Stuart said that he chose to do an energy drink as it meant he could have more fun with the packaging and marketing in comparison to if he chose to do an alcohol based drink, which has strict tules and regulations.
“You can’t do crazy branding. There’s just so many rules — with energy drinks, you can have a bit of fun,” he said.
“We’re never going to target kids. I drank energy drinks from Year 8 and they gave me bad anxiety. I will tell kids not to drink them.”
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Originally published as Russ Energy drink launches at 7-Eleven stores across Australia
