Wow I wouldn't have expected it but soft drinks left by Fruit Juice and Energy drinks is a driving faster growth in sales than the alcohol market. That explains why some of the big alcohol companies have been getting involved in the energy drink game doesn't it... Well who knows what is healthier mass caffeine or mass booze... hehe

From the article:
In the hotels, restaurants and catering channel, soft drinks also performed well with value up 10 per cent. Fruit juice was the driver of growth with sales up 21 per cent to £61m. Energy, bottled water and fruit drinks also showed strong growth across this channel...
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Looks like Syzmo was doing well enough to attract a bigger player... Well I did enjoy the blue agave taste so I guess best wishes to Syzmo and the new owners...

From the article:
Unlike typical diet soft drinks, which use artificial sweeteners, The Organic Beverage Company's products use only natural ingredients. SYZMO ENERGY(TM), BevSpec's first product offering and the first certified organic mainstream energy drink, debuted at the National Association of Convenience Stores annual conference in 2005. It was developed for consumers of energy drinks sensitive to health and wellness considerations. In addition to the distribution already established by BevSpec, The Organic Beverage Company expects to expand into the convenience channel in 2007 and to further expand its line of premium organic beverage products...
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This is a great quick little write up about energy drinks and their effects. Have you wanted to know a little bit more about the stuff your putting your body? Well here is a simple article about how the common energy drink ingredients effect your body. It seems to have a little negative slant, but isn't to unfairly balanced. The article is an answer/responce to the question below...

From the article:
QUESTION: I was wondering if high-energy drinks are really a safe way to gain energy before a sporting event or test. Also are there any side effects from drinking a high-energy drink with an alcoholic beverage?
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Yeah they probably don't delivery a ton more than a cup of coffee but they sure are in the news a lot more. I guess my point is the normal basic energy drinks are as healthy as coffee, but some of the other stuff is getting a bit extreme, and causing some problems. As for the issues with Alcohol come on people have been drinking rum and coke for years... It is fine in moderation like everything else people get sick and die just from to much alcohol of course it will be bad if you mix a bunch of alcohol with way to much caffeine in a single evening. I don't really feel like that part is news...

From the article:
But it's an open question whether this or any other "high-performance" beverage actually conveys much more benefit than, say, a cup of coffee and a banana or peanut-butter sandwich. As the small type on virtually every brand reads, "These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Adminstration."
Moreover, another aspect of energy drinks - their widespread use as a mixer in cocktails, most commonly Red Bull and vodka - is raising fears of an increase in alcohol abuse and drunken driving. ...

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Well this might not be the most energy drink focused article, but I like how we blame the caffeine, alcohol, and energy drinks, but not the person. If you need more sleep start getting it. Drink less caffeine, and do something that calms your body down for sleep a little earlier... Anyways just a quick mention of women and energy drinks in this article, but I thought I would pass it along anyways.

From the article:
"Caffeine's in coffee. It's in tea. All sorts of sodas. It's in those energy drinks. There's a lot of caffeine we all take in because we want to be alert, awake during the day, and then at the end of the day it comes back," he said. "The other is alcohol. People have a drink with dinner or a couple of drinks and some wine. Alcohol may make you sleepy and you fall asleep but then you wake up because the alcohol is gone and now you're up in the middle of the night."...

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So ever just wanted the quick description of what caffeine does to you? This tiny little article explains just that. It is short and brief, but it isn't trying to fill people with all the scare tactics that most articles about energy drinks and caffeine seem to be trying to do right now. So yes caffeine is a drug, yes it has effects many times completely safe and accepted effects. So here is a little rundown on it...

From the article:
If you want a little caffeine stimulation you can get that from about any soft drink, even diet soft drinks without calories," Schaub said. "Diet Coke, for example, is 45 milligrams, and that's enough to increase alertness.
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Take this with a grain of salt but a company has announced that their energy drink has none of the side effects associated with heavy caffeine use. I find this a dubious claim, but hey I guess it is worth looking into. I also would take it with a grain of salt because this is a press release which the company wrote itself. Either way it is a pretty big and interesting claim. If you could get rid of the "jitters" there would be less reason for people to start using / switching to things like Yerba Mate... So I guess you heard it here first

From the article:
San Francisco, CA, March 02, 2007 --(PR.COM)-- Amid increasing concerns about the high-levels of caffeine in the 4 billion dollar market of “energy drinks,” Smart Energy Enterprises Inc. announced the release of a pair of new “SmartPower” energy drinks with special ingredients that change the way the central nervous system processes caffeine, virtually eliminating its negative side effects...

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Apparently some of the worst abuses of caffeine from college students around finals. Who is surprised? I am certainly not surprised, in college I knew people seeking illegal substances to stay up and study. I frequently had an energy drink or two while staying up and studying. I don't think their is really a problem with that, but apparently some kids are going a bit over board and causing some problems. If your drinking to much caffeine every day it can definitely mess up your cycle, but like I said most people know what their doing.

From the article:
Finals begin March 12, which for many students also means beginning a week-long binge on coffee, soda, energy drinks and even pills, increasing caffeine intake to stay alert. Experts say, however, that students' caffeine habits can be a health risk...
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There are many articles flying around right now about to much caffeine in some energy drinks. CBS seems to have hit it the hardest after a few incidents in Colorado. I was called to make some comments and was quoted in a couple different articles about the issue, including this report by CBS...

From the article:
There are now countless energy drinks on the market to choose from, but the pick me up these drinks provide may come at a price...
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It looks like a new version of 180 energy drink is being launched. I never knew Anheuser-Busch owned 180, that would explain why it kept popping back up after seeming to not do that well. I always rather liked the drink but it kept disappearing anyways. So if you liked the old 180 energy perhaps you will still be a fan on the new 180 energy drink.

From the article:
Anheuser-Busch Cos. is rolling out a new version of its 180 energy drink — this time, with hints of Goji berry, a Tibetan fruit that AB bills as an
(Note: Could not find full paragraph for this item)...
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Well Hansen is reporting record sales... I can't say I am surprised, the Monster Energy drink has remained extremely popular. I am actually quite a fan. I guess if your wondering why you still keep hearing more and more about how huge the energy drink market is and how fast it is expanding just start looking through some of the numbers in this report. It makes it pretty clear why so many companies want to get in this market... I mean the profit margins are double that of regular soft drink and sales are soaring...

From the article:
Hansen Natural Corporation (Nasdaq:HANS) today reported record sales for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2006.

Gross sales for the fourth quarter increased 51.0% to $171.5 million from $113.6 million a year earlier. Net sales for the fourth quarter increased 54.2% to $151.1 million from $98.0 million a year ago...
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