Monster Beverage Corporation[2] is an American beverage company that manufactures energy drinks including Monster Energy, Relentless, Reign and Burn. The company was originally founded as Hansen's in 1935 in Southern California, originally selling juice products. The company renamed itself as Monster Beverage in 2012.
As of 2020, Monster held 39% of the $86 billion global energy drink market, the second highest share after Red Bull.[3]
History
Hansen's was founded in 1935.[4] In the 1930s, Hubert Hansen and his three sons began selling juice to film studios and retailers in Southern California under the Hansen's name. In the 1970s, Tim Hansen (the grandson of Hubert) developed and marketed a variety of sodas and juices, also under the Hansen's label.[5]
The company became Hansen's Juices, and later The Fresh Juice Company of California. The plant that was opened in Los Angeles in 1946 was used until operations were moved to a new plant in Azusa, California in 1993. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1988, and was acquired by the California CoPackers Corporation and renamed Hansen Natural Company. In 1990, Hansen's (original ticker symbol: HANS) went public with an initial public offering.[6] In 1997, Hansen's launched their first energy drink, called Hansen's Energy.[7] In 1998, the company moved from Anaheim, California to Corona, California. On January 5, 2012, after energy drinks had grown to the largest source of revenue, shareholders agreed to change the name of the company from Hansen's Natural to Monster Beverage Corporation, under the new ticker MNST. Shareholders also approved an increase in the number of authorized shares of common stock from 120,000,000 shares to 240,000,000 shares.[8]
In April 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled products containing high-fructose corn syrup could not be labeled "natural".[9] Shortly after, Hansen's Natural Corporation announced they had begun using cane sugar instead.[10]
In September 2009, Hansen brand Monster Energy sent a cease and desist letter to Rock Art Brewery, demanding the microbrewery stop selling its new Vermonster beer, drop its pursuit of a federal trademark for the name, and pay Hansen's lawyer fees. This resulted in a boycott of all Hansen products by a few Vermont retailers.[11]
The Coca-Cola Company bought a 16.7% stake for $2.15 billion in Monster Beverage Corp in 2015. This stake peaked at 19.3% due to share buybacks conducted by Monster Beverage Corp in 2018.[12][13]
In January 2022, the company acquired CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective for US$330 million.[14] In February 2022, it was reported Monster and Constellation Brands were considering a merger which would have a combined market capitalization above $90 billion.[15] In June 2023, Monster reached an agreement to acquire Vital Pharmaceuticals, the owner of Bang Energy.[16]
Sponsorship
NASCAR announced on December 1, 2016, a multi-year deal that will make Monster Energy only the third entitlement sponsor in its premier series history.[17] However, this deal ended after the 2019 race season, and the series will be known as simply the "NASCAR Cup Series" from 2020 onward. The company is expected to continue sponsoring individual drivers, including Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs and Riley Herbst into the future. Monster remains a secondary sponsor.
Brittany Force of the NHRA races with Monster Energy[18] livery at several races in their season.
Professional Bull Riders Unleash the Beast Series carries a Monster Energy sponsorship.
World of Outlaws features the NOS brand as its title sponsor.
AMA Supercross[19]
Finances
For the fiscal year 2017, Monster Beverage reported earnings of US$821 million, with an annual revenue of US$3.369 billion, an increase of 10.5% over the previous fiscal cycle. Monster Beverage's shares traded at over $25 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at US$29.9 billion in November 2018.[20]
Products
- Monster Energy
- Full Throttle
- NOS
- Bang Energy
- Reign
- Relentless
- Mother
- Burn
- Predator
- Live+
- True North
Peace Iced Tea
Former products
Natural soda
Natural Soda came in twelve flavors: Original Cola, Ginger Ale, Key Lime Twist, Cherry Vanilla Creme, Grapefruit, Kiwi Strawberry, Vanilla Cola, Mandarin Lime, Creamy Root Beer, Raspberry, Mango Orange, and Pomegranate.[24] All Hansen's sodas are made with cane sugar.
Diet soda
Their Diet Soda was available in ten flavors: Cola, Black Cherry, Peach, Kiwi Strawberry, Vanilla Cherry Crème, Tangerine, Lime, Ginger Ale, Root Beer, Grapefruit, and Pomegranate. Hansen's diet soda is sweetened with acesulfame potassium and sucralose. All diet sodas are OU Kosher certified.[4]
Drink mixers
Monster Beverage sells three flavors of soda mixer
Controversies
In 2018, The Huffington Post published an article in which five women accused Monster Beverage of having an abusive and discriminatory culture.[31] Manager Phillip Deitrich regularly humiliated and boycotted a female subordinate in public, and denied her increases in compensation. VP John Kenneally was accused of retaliation, bullying, and sexual harassment. According to three women, he subverted their reputations and forced them to abandon the company. One woman had responded to his advances but suffered nothing but abuse as a consequence of his jealous personality. She was ultimately forced out of the company by Kenneally after objecting to him calling her a "whore". Kenneally was fired two weeks after the article was released.[32] In March 2018, a sixth woman came forward, accusing retired manager Ted Cook of sexual harassment, and claimed being fired for mercurial reasons.[33]
External links
References
- 2024 Annual Report U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, February 27, 2025, retrieved March 2, 2025^
- Evolution of Merchandising in the Apparel Industry and Management of Private Label Apparel in the Retail Industry Apparel Merchandising, Fairchild Publications, 2014^
- Energy Drink Market Share T4.ai, August 16, 2020, retrieved December 31, 2020^