STARBUCKS ENTERS THE ENERGY DRINK BUSINESS

The coffee giant has jumped into the energy drink market and has just released the first major campaign for its energy drink Baya, especially at a time when market share is growing rapidly.

For Jenn Wong, vice president of channel development at Starbucks, “the decision to create an energy drink stems from the brand’s desire to follow emerging trends, which in this case are a steady increase in energy drink consumption and the desire for functional ingredients among consumers.”

Precisely, the campaign for its energy drink Baya, has been baptized with the name of Energy that’s good, by the agency Energy BBDO. One of the ads is set to a song by Dominican-Brazilian artist Jarina de Marco, Happy all the time, and features a colorfully dressed skateboarder drinking Baya as she skates down the street.

Starbucks is positioning Baya as a refreshing beverage with flavors aimed at the warmer months. Varieties include mango-guava, raspberry-lime and pineapple-passion fruit. The beverage still alludes to coffee in its ingredients, as it gets its caffeine from a fruit produced by coffee plants, called coffee fruit.

The move comes at a time when the energy drink market is steadily growing. The category reached a value of $45.8 billion in 2020 and is expected to experience an annual growth rate of 8.2% from 2022 to 2031, reaching $108.4 billion. The size of the U.S. market is $16 billion.