Blog
Battle of the energy drinks
13th April 2008
I popped into my local Sainsbury’s this morning for the groceries and I came across a staggering price differential between Red Bull - 250ml individual cans on sale for 88p or a pack of 4 for £3.29 - and Sainsbury’s own-brand caffeinated drink Blue Bolt which has been on sale for some time at just 26 pence for a 250ml can - less than one third of the price of a can of Red Bull.
Sainsbury’s of course is in competition with Tesco whose own brand is called Kick. I checked on Tesco online this lunchtime and Kick is available for 24p for the same size. Are Tesco and Sainsbury’s loss-leading on these products? How else might you explain the huge price difference between the own-brand products and their mainstream rival? After a brief taste test, Bolt reminds me more of Iron Brew but if it does the job of stimulating me on long drives or during late night marking, why pay such a crazy price premium?
Geoff Riley
Geoff Riley FRSA has been teaching Economics for over thirty years. He has over twenty years experience as Head of Economics at leading schools. He writes extensively and is a contributor and presenter on CPD conferences in the UK and overseas.
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