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Published on December 11, 2007

A recent survey by global drink consultants Zenith International shows although Thailand, home to the energy-drink concept, still leads in consumption per person, the United States now has the highest total-volume sales, driven by its top five brands: Red Bull, Monster, Rockstar, Full Throttle and SoBe No Fear.

US consumers drank 990 million litres of energy drinks last year, 47 per cent more than in 2005 and 200 million litres more than their Thai counterparts.

"If the level of activity and product development in the US continues, it could represent 45 per cent of worldwide volume in five years," said Zenith research director Gary Roethenbaugh.

The rising popularity of an expanding product portfolio in the US could see consumption per person increase from the current 3-litre average to 8 litres by 2011. But that would remain below Thailand, with a fairly constant 11.5 litres per person.

Thailand is not known as home to the energy-drink concept for nothing. Not to mention home-grown Red Bull and Japan's Lipovitan, the market is full of drinks with exciting names like Shark, Ranger, M150 and Carabao Dang.

But other national markets are vying for a spot among the top five energy-drink consumer countries, which are now Austria, Ireland, New Zealand, Slovenia and Kuwait.

Consumers of energy drinks these days are no longer limited to the male market, as manufacturers have managed to tap a diverse group.

Let's hope that after Red Bull's success, there'll be another Thai energy drink to capture international success, because Zenith expects each region to generate growth over the coming years, with global volume exceeding 5.7 billion litres in 2011.

busdsk@nationgroup.com

The Nation